5 challenges await Moraes, the most prominent of which is keeping Sharjah away from the specter of relegation

The new coach of Sharjah, the Portuguese Jose Moraes, officially began his mission with Sharjah, the day before yesterday, as he led the team’s training after signing a contract with the club, extending until the next season 2026-2027, succeeding the former Serbian coach Milos, whose contract was terminated by the club’s management by mutual consent, due to the decline in the team’s results, even though he was bound to a contract with the club for the next two seasons.

Sharjah, under the leadership of Moraes, is currently preparing to play two important confrontations, the first with Al Hilal Saudi Arabia next Monday, in the sixth round of the AFC Champions League for Elite Clubs, and the second with Shabab Al Ahly on the 27th of this month in the Super Cup.

Moraes awaits five technical challenges: rebuilding the team properly in the wake of the decline that recently accompanied its career, correcting its path and saving it from the specter of relegation that currently threatens it, as the team occupies 11th place in the ADNOC Professional League team standings as of the end of the eighth round, with only seven points. The coach is also required to focus on restoring the morale of the players, and working on the psychological aspect, until the team’s players regain their self-confidence again, following the state of frustration that has accompanied the team in the recent period, due to the negative results.

Moraes is also expected to support the team with more than one player to make a difference during the winter transfer period, which will begin on January 13 and continue until February 9.

Al Sharjah, which won the AFC Champions League 2 title last season, suffered a major setback during the current season, as it suffered successive losses, the last of which was its loss to Al Ain in the second leg of the quarter-finals, and its exit from the Professional League Cup race (Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Cup), in addition to its exit from the President’s Cup competition in the round of 16, following its loss to the United team.

Moraes has a busy history, especially in the last period of his leadership of Al-Wahdawi, as he left the Al-Wahdawi team while presenting advanced technical levels, as the team currently occupies second place in the league team standings until the second round with 18 points. Moraes also led the Al-Wahda team to qualify for the round of 16 in the AFC Champions League for Elite Clubs, as well as the team’s qualification to the quarter-finals of the President’s Cup.

For his part, the former World Cup player and former head of the technical committee at the Sharjah Club, Ali Thani, told Emirates Al-Youm: “Sharjah is in dire need of the cooperation and solidarity of all Sharqawiya, whether at the level of players, coach or management, so that the team returns to its natural position away from the confusion that is currently occurring,” considering that “football has many accelerating changes.”

He added: “I call on everyone to unite behind the team in the next stage.”

Ali Thani pointed out that “it is not a condition for any successful coach to succeed with the team, as evidenced by the fact that the former team coach, Milos, who achieved the President’s Cup and ADNOC Professional League titles with Al-Wasl Club, did not succeed with Sharjah.”