Small details behind Al Wahda’s draw with Sharjah

Al Wahda team defender, Lucas Pimenta, said that some small details were behind the positive draw result against Sharjah, and that they must learn from them and prepare to face Al Ain in the next round, which he described as the awaited match, and which he regretted missing due to the accumulation of warnings.

Al-Anabi was caught in a 1-1 draw in the match between the two teams yesterday evening at Al Nahyan Stadium, as part of the postponed confrontation from the ninth round of the ADNOC Professional Football League, amid a crowd that did not exceed four thousand spectators.

Pimenta said in press statements after the match: “We played a good match, and at times we dominated and had chances to score. The Sharjah team had two chances and scored from them. These matches are decided with minute details, and we must learn from them and prepare for the Al Ain match, as it is an awaited match.”

The defender, who received his third yellow card this season in the Sharjah match and will miss the “Abu Dhabi Clasico” against Al Ain due to the accumulation of warnings, added that he was completely focused on avoiding getting any warning in the match.

He said: “I feel sad because the yellow card I received against Sharjah will prevent me from facing Al Ain. I was trying to avoid it. “The Al Ain match is important because it is a derby, and I have confidence in my fellow players.”

Al Wahda raised its score to 25 points in second place, five points behind leaders Al Ain (30 points) before the upcoming “Abu Dhabi Clasico” next Saturday, while Al Sharjah raised its score to 11 points to advance to tenth place with a postponed match.

Regarding the team being five points behind Al Ain, the current leader, and losing the opportunity to close the gap after the draw with Sharjah, Pimenta said: “We are working and working hard. We are a team that played for long periods with a shortage of foreign professionals. For us we do what we have to do. The draw against Sharjah was not an easy opponent, as we faced a strong team.”

For his part, Sharjah player Khaled Al Dhanhani expressed his dissatisfaction with the result of the tie, stressing that they were aspiring to come out with the full three points, especially since they wanted to advance in the standings.

He said: “We played well against a strong team competing for the league. We must work harder. We will take the positives we took from the match. We were aiming for three points and we had to advance in the standings.”

He added: “We have a sense of responsibility. Our effort does not reflect our position in the league table. We promise the fans that we will continue to give everything we have until the end of the season.”