Dubai: Al Wasl coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena is braced for a change in pace as the season starts its most difficult phase ahead of the President’s Cup quarter-final against Sharjah at Al Shabab Stadium from 4.55pm on Wednesday.
The Cheetahs are currently second in the Arabian Gulf League, level on 29 points with Al Jazira but separated on goal difference.
Along with Al Jazira, they are the only team still in all three competitions, and aside from facing Sharjah in the President’s Cup last eight on Wednesday, they also take on Al Shabab in the Arabian Gulf Cup semi-finals on January 9.
Al Wasl finished sixth in the league last season and were previously eliminated at this stage in both cup competitions. They haven’t won a domestic title since the league and President’s Cup double 10 years ago.
“In general we are satisfied with what we did in the first half of the season,” said the Argentinian former Boca Juniors coach, who joined Al Wasl last summer.
“We are spending less than other clubs and are still able to keep up with them, but as I always say, we don’t care for praise, because the most important thing is not how we start, but how we finish.
“We are now embarking on the most difficult five months of the season, because the pace of competition will increase. We also enter the decisive stages of the President’s Cup and Arabian Gulf Cup, and hope to achieve our best in all three tournaments.
“Our focus now is to fight for each match separately, treating each game with equal importance, without taking any opponent for granted. We don’t think about winning titles but just pleasing fans and maintaining gains.
“Both cup matches are of great importance to us and we have difficult tests against both Sharjah and Al Shabab. Both teams will have big ambitions to qualify to the next stage,” added Arruabarrena, whose side haven’t lost in the last five matches across all competitions.
Meanwhile, Sharjah, who are 10th in the league and have only won twice in the last five games across all competitions, have just replaced coach Giorgios Donis with former Al Wahda boss Jose Peseiro. His first task will be to stop Arruabarrena’s Al Wasl.
“We hope to succeed in our mission to please the fans and work hard to finish the season well,” he said. “I’m used to training top teams in the league and Sharjah has the potential to return to that with focus and hard work.”
Sharjah have made no foreign changes to date in the winter transfer window but Al Wasl have brought in Brazilian defensive midfielder Serginho from Recife to replace Portuguese winger Helder Barbosa.
Arruabarrena said of that signing: “Barbosa is a great player and was a star of the Greek league when brought in from AEK Athens over the summer, but sometimes players don’t have luck in their new experiences. This doesn’t diminish the quality of Barbosa, but we hope Serginho can meet our aspirations and needs. Our selection was in accordance to strengthening midfield.”
