We faced a difficult test against Al-Bataeh… and the fighting spirit is the secret of victory

Al-Wasl team player Fabio Lima revealed the scenes of his team’s difficult victory over Al-Bataeh 1-0, stressing that the victory came “with the taste of suffering,” after the team played incompletely since the first half, and that the fighting spirit was the secret to regaining fourth place again in the ADNOC Professional League.

Al-Wasl’s victory came in a dramatic match in the 17th round of the professional league, which witnessed two cases of expulsion from both teams, and directly affected the course of the match, especially after Al-Wasl captain Ali Saleh went out with a red card, which forced the “Emperor” to change his style and switch to defense for long periods. Despite the difficulties, the team succeeded in achieving the three points at an important time that restored balance before the decisive rounds of the season.

Nicolas Jimenez scored the only goal of the match in the 34th minute, giving his team three valuable points, raising Al Wasl’s tally to 29 points, regaining fourth place, one point behind Al Wahda in third place. On the other hand, Al Bataeh’s tally froze at 13 points in 12th place, continuing its suffering in the struggle for survival.

Lima, who participated as a substitute in the match, told «Emirates Today»: “The victory was necessary, but the truth is that we did not play a complete match in terms of performance. We had good moments before the expulsion, but after the departure of team captain Ali Saleh, we had to defend a lot. The goal in the first half helped us, but it was not enough to ease the match.”

He added: “Playing with ten players against an organized team like Al-Bataeh is never easy. We tried to control as much as possible, but it was natural for us to lose control in some periods. The important thing is that we knew how to fight and maintain our progress until the end.”

Lima spoke about the team losing two of its members during the match, saying: “We lost two important players, Ali Saleh and defender Andreus. We hope that Andreus’ injury is minor, because he did not look comfortable when he left. They are among the most important players on the team, but we have elements capable of making up for the absences.”

Adapting the ideas of Rui Vitoria

Lima spoke about the impact of the new Portuguese coach, Rui Vitoria, on the team’s performance. He said: “Our coach has been with us for only about 10 days, and he is trying to give the team new solutions. We need time to adapt to his ideas, but we notice the change, and as the matches pass, we will become better and stronger.” Lima concluded his speech by stressing the need to build on this victory: “Victory is important, but it is not enough. We need stronger levels and create more opportunities in the upcoming matches. We will continue to work and fight to get the largest possible number of points.”