Gulf News- Conceding
three goals in the last ten minutes of their opener
against Estighlal of Iran, clearly indicates that Al
Wahda players lack physical fitness. Apart from this,
their defensive drawbacks made Al Wahda pay dearly after
squandering their lead thrice.
Football experts divide the matches into three-30-minute
periods. They say that goals scored in the first half
hour are a direct result of implementing strategy, goals
in the second period are a direct result of combining
strategy with physical fitness while goals in the third
and last half hour are a result of pure physical fitness
and endurance.
Al Wahda led the match thrice and each time they had to
settle for a tie but in the last ten minutes, the two
substitutions made by their coach Mansour Pourheidari,
proved to be winners as Faraz Fatemi and Farzad Majidi
combined to score two goals within three minutes paving
the way for the big victory in the Asian Clubs
Championship, West Zone.
Jo Bonfrere, the Al Wahda's coach, have tried his cards
realising that the left flank of his defence was
vulnerable. He brought in Ismail Rashid for Basheer
Saeed but mistakes continued and he could do nothing to
save the match.
Despite their defeat Al Wahda have a good chance to reach
the semifinals if they win their remaining two matches.
They should defeat Kuwait Club today in their second
match and beat Nasaf Karsi on Sunday to take the second
seat with Estighlal for the continent's semi finals
against their counterparts from the East Zone.
Al Wahda played a good match on Wednesday. They were the
better side in 80 minutes and had their gifted midfielder
Mohammed Conteh played his usual game, today the team
will surely emerge winners and collect their first three
points in the competition which they host at Al Nahyan
Stadium.
"We played an excellent match," Bonfrere said."We
took the lead thrice but we committed defensive mistakes
that led to our defeat. Our players should not have
played a balanced game after taking the lead but they
went all out for attack.
That was the main reason for our defeat. We will have to
do better, result wise, in our remaining two matches,"
Bonfrere concluded. Bonfrere is expected to use his
suspended midfielder Hayder Allo Ali who missed the first
match thanks to a one match suspension.
Hayder will play a good role in the left flank which was
subjected to tremendous pressure in the opener. Al
Wahda's sweeper Abdullah Salim might miss the match
tonight because of the injury he sustained on Wednesday
which prevented him from completing the match. Salim
Mohammed Salim is expected to play in his place.
Bonfrere have to ask his players to mark tightly Kuwait's
striker Faraj Laheeb who scored a beautiful goal against
the Uzbeks which earned his team a valuable point. Khalaf
Al Salamah is another striker which Al Wahda should
closely mark.
The first match of the day at 5:35 pm today will feature
leaders Estighlal against Nasaf Karsi and from the two
teams performances in their first encounters, Estighlal
are expected to win the match and maintain their lead
despite the fact that no match is won before its end.
But the Uzbeks will never be a push over. They have a
good team that is physically capable of facing the
Iranians and their tall strikers could easily benefit
from the high crosses to score goals.
Expected line ups:
Nasaf Karsi: Gizimohuk Peter, Berdiev Ruzikul,
Qambaraliev Bakhtiyor, Annamatov Bhadir, Rahkhmonqlov
Shukhrtjon, Hasanov Numon, Kholmurodov Zafar, Namazov
Bakhtiyor, Karaev Bottir, Haydarov Bahromjon and Hakimov
Rustam.
Estighlal: Parviz Boroomand, Mahammad Khoramgah,
Sirous Dinmohammad, Mahdi Hashemini, Mahmoud Fekri,
Yadollah Akbari, Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh, Alireza Vahedi,
Mohammad Navazi, Alireza Akbarpour and Ahmed Momenzadeh.
Al Wahda: Ramadan Mallullah, Abdul Aziz Ahmed, Al
Hay Jumaa, Salim Mohammed, Abdul Rahim Jumaa, Hayder Allo
Ali, Abdul Salam Jumaa, Fahad Massoud, Mohammed Conteh,
Fawzi Al Ruwaisi and Mohammed Salim Al Enazy.
Kuwait: Ahmed Haji, Sami Al Shishini, Guye Baye
Ndiaja, Razzam Alabbasi, Eid Al Muttairi, Jarah Al Atigi,
Faisal Al Refaie, Badr Al Kandari, Ahmed Al Shammari,
Khalaf Al Salamah and Faraj Laheeb.
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