Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Mekkah: Two new coaches will be in charge when two-time winners Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia take on inaugural AFC Champions League winners Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates in an important Group C match on Wednesday.
Having just appointed Juan Verzeri as their head coach in January, Al Ittihad quickly dispensed with the services of the Uruguayan after a 1-0 loss to 10-man Tractorsazi in their opening Group C game late last month.
He was replaced as coach by Khalid Al Koroni who also dispensed with the services of Uruguayan midfielder Juan Pablo Rodriguez after his performances failed to satisfy the new coach.
With defenders Ahmed Asiri and Osama Al Harbi returning from suspension for the match against Ali Ain, Al Koroni is hopeful of turning around the fortunes of the Jeddah club when they meet Al Ain at King Abdulaziz Sport City in a rematch of the 2005 final.
“The match against Al Ain will be very hard for us especially after we lost our opening match,” he said. “We will be looking to win the match especially as we are playing at home and in front of our fans.”
“The conditions of the two teams are similar as we have both just changed coaches. But all of our players are ready for the match and we will try our best to fix our mistakes in order to put in a better performance against Al Ain.”
Meanwhile, Al Ain have sacked Spanish coach Quique Flores after some poor league performance and appointed Croatian Zlatko Dalic as his replacement.
"I know Al Ittihad well as I have previously coached against them and they have good players and dangerous strikers,” said Dalic.
“But we came to Saudi Arabia in order to get another three points and maintain our position on the top of the group."
"We have good players who are motivated and ready for the match. We are a good side and we will be giving our best in order to get a victory. The players are enthusiastic and will be looking forward to winning the match.”