Dubai: A little over a decade back, Zoran Mamic was part of the celebrations as captain of Dinamo Zagreb after winning the 2006 Croatian Championship.
Roll on a decade and Mamic is once again celebrating, though this time a bit restrained due to the other tasks at hand for his Al Ain Club. But the 46-year-old cannot hide his delight after winning his first-ever trophy on the UAE soil.
“Today I will not speak about the match,” Mamic told media after his team had completed a 4-0 whitewash of Al Nasr at the Al Aweer late on Saturday.
“I have a word of thanks, a word of gratitude to everyone who has made this win possible. I want to first congratulate my players for such a great victory. I want to thank everyone involved, from the people who wash our kit and look after us to my technical staff, the medical staff and the board of directors. I am indeed a very happy man tonight for winning this trophy with such a great club,” Mamic added.
He took over at Dinamo Zagreb as caretaker manager in October 2013 following the sacking of Branko Ivankovic. During the next three seasons, Mamic worked closely with two former players, Damir Krznar and Igor Cvitanovic to build the Zagreb team into a formidable unit. Their best result was their shock 2-1 home win over Arsenal during the group stages of the 2015-’16 Uefa Champions League. Dinamo lost all their remaining matches and were eliminated after ending last in the group.
But that one memorable win against the Gunners gave Mamic a lot of self belief — a quality that he has carried along with him to the UAE after a one-off season spent with Al Nasr in Saudi Arabia. “Believe me, our plan was very simple, and that was to get the three points tonight,” Mamic related.
“I cautioned the players that we shouldn’t be doing stupid things on the field that would destroy our dream. And now that we have won this one with one round still to go, we want to continue with our winning streak and win the next one, and then the next one,” he smiled.
After spending the 2016-17 season with Al Nasr, Saudi Arabia, Mamic was handed responsibility at Al Ain at the end of January 2017. During his time as Dinamo’s coach, Mamic had won three league titles (2014 to 2016) and the Croatian Cup a couple of times (2015, 2016). “Yes, this is my first trophy with Al Ain, and my first in this country. I hope this is not the last one,” Mamic joked.
“I was happy working with Dinamo where we won five titles in all. But here, we have worked hard for this too. I thank the club for giving me this chance to be coach, and today I can say I have had the opportunity of repay this trust at least in part,” he added.
Al Ain’s last major success was the 2015 Arabian Gulf Super Cup where they beat Al Nasr 4-2 in the one-off season opening competition.
“Our team is in the best shape at the moment, and we want to continue this way as we look at the next challenges before us. I had told the players that we have worked hard for 20 matches to be where we are. We have gone through a lot together, the ups and the downs. But this is our time and we have our part to play and make it big for ourselves as the champions,” he added.
