Al Wahda 6-0 Al Jazira
Wahda: Tagliabue (24' pen, 25', 81'), Dzsudzsak (28' pen, 54'), Al Menhali (72')
STORY OF THE MATCH
DUBAI // It took four minutes for Al Jazira’s President’s Cup defence to unravel.
The Abu Dhabi club, winners last year courtesy of a penalty shootout in May, were initially outdone by two spot-kicks either side of a Sebastian Tagliabue strike in the first half of their quarter-final clash against Al Wahda on Wednesday.
In the end, it finished 6-0 to their Abu Dhabi rivals, Jazira’s hopes of a second successive cup crown ended in spectacular fashion.
Frustrating, too. The holders had held their own through the opening 20 minutes at the Zabeel Stadium, but then four frenzied minutes more or less consigned them to an earlier-than-expected exit.
First, Joao Carlos tripped and felled Tagliabue in the Jazira penalty area, leaving the Argentine to dust himself down and coolly slot past Ali Kasheif from 12 yards.
Within a minute, yet more indecision in the Jazira defence allowed Tagliabue to pounce and slide home his second. Then, as Jazira attempted to refocus and rebound, defender Salim Rashid hacked high at Tagliabue just inside the area and Balazs Dzsudzsak stroked another penalty into the net. From 0-0 to 3-0 in a flash.
Dzsudzsak would add another, from a free kick shortly after half time, with Mohammed Al Menhali making it five on 72 minutes. Nine minutes later, Tagliabue prodded home for his hat-trick.
The goals accentuated the scoreline and smoothed Wahda’s path to the semi-finals, at the same time comprehensively putting pay to Jazira’s aspirations of holding onto the trophy. The three-time winners, currently leading the Arabian Gulf League at the halfway stage, had suffered their first President’s Cup defeat in almost 20 months. It is difficult to imagine one as convincing. All in all, it was some way to go out.
MAN OF THE MATCH — Sebastian Tagliabue
The Argentine did not have too many chances, but his contribution was still telling. He scored three times and won both penalties. Decisive.
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAID
Javier Aguirre, Al Wahda "It was an accident, the score is not the real difference between the teams. Al Jazira are No 1 in the league so it's a very strange score. But to be fair to my players, they played as a team, they ran all day long, they fought from the beginning until the very end. We scored a lot, but I think it was an accident. I respect a lot Al Jazira club, the Jazira fans, their players. Today was a good score for their confidence to keep training hard and recover the gap in points we have with teams above us in the league."
Henk ten Cate, Al Jazira "It was a total failure of the entire team. I take full responsibility for this defeat. It's exactly the same players who lost only one game in six months. This is a wake-up call for everybody: we made three individual mistakes and conceded three goals, which is pretty frustrating, but this happens. It's a lesson for us, a big lesson. But we're not done yet – it is just one game. We underperformed, and not just one or two players, the entire team, including myself. I hope this is a wake-up call for everybody."
THE NATIONAL VERDICT
Jazira had an uncharacteristic off day, blown away in those four minutes. They will point to next week’s Arabian Gulf Cup semi-final, and the remainder of the AGL, as ways to make amends for a woeful night. Wahda, meanwhile, are now dreaming of second President’s Cup title.
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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