Shabab Al-Ahly players are extraordinary heroes

Shabab Al-Ahly coach, Portuguese Paulo Sousa, expressed his great happiness with his team’s qualification to the quarter-finals of the President’s Cup football competition.

Shabab Al-Ahly had made its way to the quarter-finals of the President’s Cup with great difficulty, after defeating the “struggling” Al-Bataeh on penalties, 4-2, following a goalless draw in regular and extra time, in the match that brought together the two teams yesterday, at Khalid bin Mohammed Stadium in Sharjah.

The match was full of excitement and competition, as caution prevailed in the performance of the two teams during most of its periods, despite the offensive advantage of Shabab Al-Ahly, which created a number of dangerous chances without succeeding in translating them into goals, so the regular and extra time ended in a goalless draw.

Statistics revealed that Shabab Al-Ahly reached the goal of Al-Bataeh’s brilliant goalkeeper, Abdul Rahman Al-Amri, on 15 occasions without succeeding in scoring the net.

Souza said in the press conference after the match: “I am very happy with what the team presented, and the players’ determination to achieve the well-deserved victory despite all the difficulties we faced. We created many opportunities during the original and extra time of the match, but we were not lucky to score. However, I feel proud of all the Shabab Al-Ahly players, as they were extraordinary heroes.”

The Portuguese coach added: “Everyone knows the extent of the injuries the team is suffering from, especially on the front line. There are players who carried themselves despite the injuries because they knew the team needed them, and others were injured during the match, but they showed a high fighting spirit.”

Souza spoke about the difficulties his team faced, saying: “The opponent was distinguished by his physical strength, and committed many mistakes that disrupted the rhythm of the game. I prefer not to talk much about this aspect, but it is important for the media to highlight such behaviors for the benefit of Emirati football.”

He explained that his team relies on speed and dynamism in performance, adding: “When the rhythm of play is delayed or subjected to frequent stops, this affects our level and limits our offensive capabilities.”

Souza concluded his statements by saying: “Any coach who works with this group of players feels proud, because they have a professional mentality and a high fighting spirit, and I am confident that the club’s goals will be achieved this season thanks to them.”

For his part, Al-Bataeh coach, the Iranian Farhad Majidi, expressed his satisfaction with his team’s performance despite the loss, and said: “We played a great match and lasted 120 minutes against one of the strongest teams in the league, and we were close to scoring in stoppage time, but the penalty shootout did not smile at us.”

He added: “We faced some influential absences, but the biggest problem we are working to solve is wasting opportunities, as we wasted a large number of them, as happened against Shabab Al-Ahly. We hope that we will succeed in addressing this matter in the upcoming matches.”