Al Wahda will start the defence of their Pro League title on the crest of a wave after a successful pre-season tour of Germany culminated in a win over Hoffenheim. The 1-0 win over the Bundesliga team was the highlight of a 26-day training camp in Regensburg that yielded four wins in five games. The Abu Dhabi club returned home this week and are now fine tuning their preparations for the Etisalat Super Cup, the season's curtain-raiser, against Emirate, the President's Cup winners, at Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai, on August 20.
The match will herald the start of an exciting season for Wahda who will represent the UAE at the Fifa Club World Cup to be staged in the capital in December. "I have been happy with the team's preparation so far, although there is still a lot of work to be done before the start of the season," said Laszlo Boloni, the Romanian manager who replaced Josef Hickersberger in the summer. "It's good we played two or three quality teams because this will help the team prepare well for the Club World Cup."
Boloni will welcome back several players to his squad, including Ahmad Ali and Adel al Hosani, who were part of the UAE Under 23 team who defeated Kuwait 1-0 in the Gulf Cup final in Qatar last week. The Wahda squad remains relatively unchanged from the team that won the championship last season. One addition to the squad is Modibo Diara, the former Baniyas and Ivory Coast striker, who scored his first goal for his new club in the 3-2 win against SV Weiden during the pre-season tour. Two players have been released: Pinga, the 29-year-old Brazilian midfielder, and Hassan Mudhafer, the Omani international.
The new Pro League season kicks off on August 26. sports@thenational.ae