Abu Dhabi: For Al Jazira and coach Hen Ten Cate, the mission was clearly the Arabian Gulf League this season and on Saturday, it was accomplished fair and square.
With two matches to spare ridding on a hat-trick by Ali Mabkhout, they defeated Hatta 5-0 at the Hamdan Bin Rashid Stadium to seal the title.
All through the season, Al Jazira’s focus was on the domestic league and they didn’t let even the AFC Champions League entice them.
Ten Cate repeatedly kept saying that he didn’t have the ‘pool of players’ to compete in two competitions at the same time with the same intensity.
Hence, most of his key players were rested during the AFC Champions League fixtures and Al Jazira clearly looked like just making the numbers.
The only plus coming from those contests being their reserves getting an opportunity of playing in the big league.
There is, however, a tactical approach behind this move of a ‘one tournament mission,’ the agenda being to participate in the Club World Cup scheduled for December here in the capital.
The UAE being the host nation and Al Jazira having emerged as the Arabian Gulf League champions, they now have a direct entry into the biggest club tournament.
All they have to do now is to keep their fingers crossed and hope that Al Ain or Al Ahli (the two UAE clubs still in fray in the continental competition) do not come up triumphs in the AFC Champions League. The winners of AFC Champions League become automatic qualifiers of the Fifa event — and it will then keep Ten Cate’s men out.
While many may feel that Al Jazira chose the easy way out by not focusing on the continental showpiece, but the fact is they chalked out a pragmatic roadmap to propel themselves to the world map.
“I’m a happy man as our dream came true finally. If you believe in something you can achieve it. We don’t have the best payers and we know this but for sure we have the best team. We demonstrated that week-in, week-out,” said coach Ten Cate, adding that the victory is all the more special as they had conceded just 15 goals while scoring 67 and ended with a clean sheet 14 times.
“It’s really something special. I’m very proud,” said Ten Cate, adding that they are not ready to rest yet as the remaining two game serves them with the opportunity of break the all-time record in points and victories.
“Not one team before has won 22 games and we are now aiming to write history — and that too a real history. If you look at the amount of goals we scored, we have topped it and conceded the least. So there is only one team who deserved the championship this year. And that is us,” said Ten Cate, whose team last won the AGL Trophy way back in the 2010-11.
“It’s the second in the history of the club, so it means something really special to the club and for the fans. If you’re always trailing two other teams and now you are on top yourself, it gives great satisfaction especially because of the work they did,” revealed Ten Cate adding that the success had a lot to do with the changes that he brought about in the team from the time he took over.
“The group made a fantastic change after I took over and they realised if they do it together as a group then they could win something, starting with the President’s Cup last year.
“You have to work your socks off, you have to be dedicated to the things you do. They grew into such a strong force and their only focus was to win the league and they have done that. They should be extremely proud of themselves now,” asserted Ten Cate.
