ABU DHABI // Walter Zenga, the Al Jazira coach, believes Abdelaziz Barrada will be the match-winner on Friday in their derby match against Al Ain.
The Italian took the unusual step of singling out the France-born Moroccan international after pointing out that his opponents’ squad is full of potential game-changers.
Zenga said Asamoah Gyan, Michel Bastos, Alex Brosque, Mirel Radoi and Omar Abdulrahman had all been mentioned in Jazira’s game plan.
“They have some great players and so do we,” Zenga said while pointing a finger at Barrada, who attended the pre-match news conference. “He is our man to rise for the occasion,” he said. “I always believe in the team but on this occasion we need one player to come with a special game and, perhaps, Barrada can do it for us.”
Barrada, the summer signing from the Spanish club Getafe, took his coach’s statement as a compliment.
“Hopefully, I can fulfil my coach’s faith in me with a really good performance,” he said.
“This is a special game and I need to do something special for the team and for the coach. I will give more than 100 per cent to win the three points. It is a big game between two top teams. This is a game that nobody needs to say what is required from the players.”
Barrada, 23, has been the standout player for Jazira this season and it is understood that he is the only member of the club’s foreign quartet who will definitely remain after the January transfer window. Jazira are coming off successive wins over Emirates and Baniyas while Al Ain were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Sharjah in their last match. However, Zenga is reading nothing into those results.
“Sharjah are one of the best-organised teams in the country at the moment and you can’t take that result as a poor one for Al Ain,” he said.
Zenga said their back-to-back victories were the perfect reaction following defeat to Al Wahda in the President’s Cup.
“The players proved their personality to bounce back from that defeat and we are hopeful we can take the positives forward,” he said.
“I would like to play this kind of game every week because it is easier for me to prepare. I don’t have to push the players because they don’t need to be motivated in such games. Everyone knows the strength of Al Ain and that’s why I say it is an easy game to prepare for, as a coach.”
Zenga will have four players absent. Ali Mabkhout and Khamis Ismail are out because of injuries; Abdullah Mousa and Musallam Fayez are serving one-match bans for three yellow cards.
Al Ain are yet to register an away win in the league, in contrast to five wins from six at home. That won’t change Quique Sanchez Flores’s plans, however.
“For us, playing home or away won’t matter much,” said the Spanish manager. “It doesn’t matter where we play; our objective as always would be to play to win.
“I’m always optimistic before each match and I don’t think about defeat. This is very clear because thinking about a draw or loss in football matches, maybe not good.”
Al Dhafra v Al Nasr
Ivan Jovanovic, the Al Nasr coach, is hoping three points away at Al Dhafra on Friday will lead to a title charge in 2014. “If we can be as close as possible behind the leaders, then it will be the best position to take our league campaign forward in the new year,” he said.
Al Shabab v Emirates
Emirates will be in confident mood when they travel to the Maktoum bin Rashid stadium in Dubai for a meeting with Al Shabab. The Ras Al Khaimah club stunned Al Wasl in their last outing to register their first win in five league games, and their first under their new Brazilian coach Paulo Comelli.
Al Wasl v Baniyas
Hector Cuper, the Al Wasl coach, is looking for consistency from his players. Wasl ended leaders Al Ahli’s unbeaten run then lost to lowly Emirates in their past two games. The Dubai club travel to Baniyas, who are a point behind them in eighth and have just one point from their last three games.
apassela@thenational.ae