ABU DHABI // Since their 2-1 loss to Al Nasr at home in November, Al Jazira have amassed 17 points from a possible 21 in the Arabian Gulf League to move to third place in the table.
They host the team just ahead of them, Al Shabab, on Friday night in what could be a pivotal game in this season’s title race.
Walter Zenga, the Jazira coach, expects a difficult challenge as he regards his opposite number, Shabab’s Marcos Paqueta, as one of the AGL’s top managers.
“In my opinion, Paqueta and [Sharjah’s] Paulo Bonamigo are the two best coaches in the UAE league,” the Italian said. “Paqueta did a great job with Shabab last season and continues doing the same great job this season.
“[And] Bonamigo, on what he did at Shabab [2009-2012] previously, and now at Sharjah. He wasn’t lucky at Jazira, though.
“Sometimes, it is easy to say that those who win a trophy are the best, but for me, there are some coaches like Paqueta, who has not won a trophy but has done a great job with Shabab.
“His team plays good football and competes as an excellent, cohesive unit. They have some good, quality players.
“However, our job will be to think about us, how we play against them, and how to win the three points.”
Jazira defeated Shabab 4-2 away in their first meeting on September 26 under the Spaniard Luis Milla, who made way for Zenga.
“We are going into this game after a good win over Al Wasl,” Zenga said. “Previously, I mentioned my goal was to take Jazira to the top. I spoke to the players and told them where we were three months ago and where we have reached now.
“This was achieved through a lot of sacrifices. The players challenged themselves with achieving good results. This doesn’t mean we are going to win the league, but are in a good position to challenge for it.”
The last game saw Jazira’s new foreign duo, Felipe Caicedo, the Ecuadorean forward, and Jucilei da Silva, the Brazilian midfielder, make their debuts for the Abu Dhabi club.
“They are good players. They are younger, but with a lot of experience,” Zenga said when asked about their immediate impact.
“One [Caicedo] is going to play for the national team in the World Cup, and he holds the right characteristics for our team. The other is one of the best, high-quality midfielders in the AGL.
“They have some excellent players around them. This is not the time for me to tell them how to play, but to let them feel they are at home, because they know what is expected from them.
“The last competitive game they played when they were in Russia was toward the end of November, so they haven’t trained for more than a month before they arrived at Jazira. So we need to give them some time.”
apassela@thenational.ae
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Al Shaab excited to continue roll at Wasl
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Buoyed by a 2-0 win over Al Nasr this past week, Al Shaab travel to the Zabeel Stadium in an elated mood as their fight for survival in the top flight continues.
“The win has restored the spirits of the team,” Shaab coach Zeljko Petrovic said. Wasl have managed one point from their last five matches.
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Sharjah expect fire from Ajman
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Paulo Bonamigo, the Sharjah manager, is expecting a tough night for his injury-hit team when they host Ajman.
“It is going to be extremely difficult, as Ajman are desperate to get some points and stop their downward spiral,” said Bonamigo, right, who will be missing star striker Ze Carlos, among others.
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