Shabab Al-Ahly deserved to win over Al-Wahda

The coach of the Shabab Al-Ahly team, the Portuguese Paulo Sousa, expressed his relative satisfaction with his team’s performance after the 1-1 draw against Al-Wahda, the day before yesterday, in the postponed match of the 16th round of the professional league, stressing that the “Dubai Knights” were the better side in several periods of the match, and created enough chances to resolve the match.

Paulo Sousa told Emirates Today: “The match went through several different stages. We did not start the match well from a technical standpoint, and there were some inaccurate decisions at the beginning of the match, but we gradually improved by the end of the first half, and we began to control the course of the game more, and push our opponent to his defensive areas.”

He added: “We were patient and looking for the right moment to play more offensively and reach the depth of the opponent’s defense. We actually succeeded in creating some dangerous opportunities through movements and tactical work that we had trained in advance. I believe that we presented a good first half, and we were balanced and controlled the rhythm of the match.”

He continued: “We also started the second half well, but after some changes we lost some control of the ball, and Al-Wahda players benefited from their experience to become more balanced in the last periods of the match. However, I think we were closest to winning, as we created six or seven clear chances to score compared to only two chances for the opponent.”

The coach stressed, “Even after Al-Wahda’s equalizer, Shabab Al-Ahly could have decided the match in the last minutes, because they had important chances. Therefore, I believe that Shabab Al-Ahly deserved to win, given the number of chances we created.”

He added: “I am happy with the way the players fought on the field, especially since we went through a difficult week, and the players gave everything they had. We also have a number of players returning from long injuries, and they need some time to regain their best levels, because their presence in such big matches makes the difference, like striker Sardar.”

He concluded: “Everyone on the team always wants to win, and the fans also expect that, because Shabab Al-Ahly is a team that is accustomed to victories. We are working to restore our best levels as quickly as possible so that we can return to achieving the results that we aspire to.”

Paulo Souza:

• We are working to regain our best levels as quickly as possible.