Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Riyadh: New Al Shabab coach Adel Abdulrahman makes his AFC Champions League bow on Tuesday hoping for a winning start to his life in the continental championship against Naft Tehran.
Abdulrahman replaced former Beijing Guoan coach Jaime Pacheco at the helm after the Portuguese coach was fired following a poor run of form in the Saudi league.
Al Shabab picked up a win against Al Faisaly in domestic competition on Friday – their first game under Abdulrahman – and the Egyptian coach is optimistic that his positive influence can continue to be felt.
“The match against Naft Tehran will be decisive for us in the AFC Champions League,” said Abdulrahman. “The match will determine our fate in the competition and hopefully we can have a good result and maintain our chances in the group.
“We will try our best to take advantage of playing at home and in front of our fans to get the positive result. We have prepared well and I'm confident that the players will give all their best in order to achieve the result that we are looking for.”
Al Shabab are bottom of Group B with just two points from their opening three games, but despite their disappointing start to the campaign, the Riyadh club are only three points behind leaders Al Ain.
Saudi Arabia international goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah (pictured) is out for the rest of the season after knee surgery on a cruciate ligament injury while Hassan Raghfawi is doubtful with a foot injury. Amer Harun, meanwhile, is suspended.
Naft Tehran won the teams’ previous encounter 2-1 on Matchday Three but head coach Ali Reza Mansourian is refusing to allow complacency to derail his side’s hopes of picking up another three points.
“I know that the match against Al Shabab will be very hard because our opponents are looking to make a good comeback following their recent results which means that the match tomorrow will not be easy for us,” said the former midfielder, who represented Iran at the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
“However, we are all prepared for the match and we came here to take the three points from Riyadh. We have great determination to continue winning in the competition and to get one of the two tickets to the knockout stage.”
Photo: AFP