Al Ain: Wydad Casablanca coach Hussain Amotta threw his support behind Al Jazira — the only Arab side left in the Fifa Club World Cup — ahead of their semi-final against Real Madrid on Wednesday.
African champions Wydad from Morocco didn’t make it as far as the Abu Dhabi club after losing 1-0 to Mexico’s Pachuca in Saturday’s quarter-final. However, the Arab hope lives on with the UAE side and Amotta, who used to play for Sharjah, wishes them well.
“From my heart I wish success to Al Jazira,” he said. “They are the only Arab team now and they will have a lot of Arab fans.
“We should congratulate Al Jazira for winning two games, our ambition was to get to the semi-final as well, but the chances weren’t for all of us.
“We can all learn from playing against such big teams however; speed, techniques, reactions and fast decision making, these are what makes the difference between high and medium level players.”
Having lost their quarter-final to Pachuca, Wydad now play the team Al Jazira beat in their quarter, Asian champions Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan, in the fifth-place play-off at Al Ain’s Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium from 6pm on Tuesday.
“Urawa is one of the best Japanese teams and it’s no coincidence that they are here,” added Amotta. “I used to manage Qatar’s Al Sadd, so I know all about the Asian Champions League, which Urawa won to qualify for this competition. I know the value of that tournament and the teams from Asia.
“Japanese teams are always focused and take care of the details. One of our difficulties will be that we are without some experienced players due to injury, but this will be an adventure for us, we respect Urawa and hope to be bold enough to play with the usual personality of Wydad.”
Amotta said that with injuries in mind he would use the match as an opportunity to give younger players a chance.
“Our ambition was to reach the semi but we didn’t manage it, so now what’s left is another game where the most important thing is to give more chance to more players to participate at this level, especially the youngsters, who may not have otherwise got this chance.
“We hope to learn from the last game and not make the same mistakes again. Hopefully the players will be even more serious and even more determined to win.”
Wydad lost their quarter-final to Pachuca courtesy of conceding in the second half of extra time after captain Brahim Nakach was sent off for a second bookable offence on 70 minutes — but Amotta said he didn’t blame the player.
“You can’t replace everyone on a warning. Nakach is an experienced player and has said he will not make the same mistake. There was water on the pitch and that maybe made the ball slip away from him, which led to the intervention.
“These things happen in football, but thanks to him we won the African Cup to get here in the first place, so we never thought about replacing him after his first yellow.”
