AL AIN // Asamoah Gyan says his acrimonious exit from the Asian Champions League semi-final second leg against Al Hilal was provoked by an abusive comment directed at him by an opponent.
The Al Ain striker received a straight red card late on at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on Tuesday following a two-footed lunge at Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi Arabian winger.
The incident sparked strong words and some shoving between the teams, with Gyan involved in a brief skirmish before having to be ushered from the pitch by teammates.
Gyan claimed he reacted to a derogatory remark from Mihai Pintilii, Hilal’s Romanian midfielder.
“The player has no right to tell me what he did,” Gyan said. “He said something to me which made me upset. He said an abusive word – I really didn’t like it.”
When asked if the alleged remark were of a racist nature, Gyan replied: “He knows what he said, you can ask him. He knows what he said.”
Gyan did not contest the referee’s decision to award the red card, although he insisted he did not intend to hurt Al Dawsari.
“I must confess it was a harsh tackle. But in my mind I did not go for the player, I just went in strong for the ball,” he said. “I am a professional.
“The referee took his decision. It is football so I cannot complain. I lost my head a bit, but life goes on.”
Zlatko Dalic, the Al Ain coach, said Gyan’s dismissal was warranted. The Croat knew emotions would be running high in a match of this magnitude. Al Ain were seeking a first continental championship since 2005, Hilal since 2000.
When the hosts went down to 10 men, the scores on the night were level at 1-1, but Hilal had clinched an away goal to stretch their aggregate lead to 4-1. Al Ain scored another to record a 2-1, second-leg win.
“I know there’s a big emotion for this game, everybody outside and inside the stadium, so it’s not easy,” Dalic said.
“We didn’t need a red card... But this is the game; it was high emotion.
Dalic now has the unenviable task of raising his players’ spirits for the long Arabian Gulf League season ahead. Al Ain have begun the campaign with two victories from two matches, but face a daunting assignment away to Al Jazira on Sunday, and without Gyan, whose Asia ban will be served in the league.
“I know everyone lives for the final, lived for this game, so it won’t be easy to lift my team,” Dalic said. “But I’ve been together with my team nine months, we’ve reached the Champions League semi-final and everyone must be happy with this.
“Yes, we wanted more but sometimes this isn’t possible. I will try to do my best, but I’m disappointed too. We expended a lot of energy and emotion in this game and it will be difficult to pick up our players. But we must see now in the future and prepare for our league.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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