Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Irbid: Al Wehdat coach Abdallah Abu Zema is targeting all three points in the return meeting with Syrian champions Al Wahda as his side look to leapfrog Wednesday’s opponents to the summit of AFC Cup Group A.
The Jordanian double winners go into the match at Prince Hasan Stadium level on points with Al Wahda but with the Syrians narrowly ahead at the top of the group via a superior head-to-head record, thanks to last month’s narrow 1-0 victory in Amman.
But Abu Zema’s side, who won 3-0 against Al Baqaa in their latest league match on Sunday, will take heart from their domestic form which sees them seven points clear at the top of the Jordanian championship, and has them pinpointing similar success on the continent.
“Our main target for the AFC Cup group is to finish on top and the match against Al Wahda will be the key to achieving our target. We want to avenge our defeat against Al Wahda who defeated us in the previous match,” said Al Wehdat coach Abu Zema.
“We know that the match will be very hard as Al Wahda have good players. All our players are ready for the match and we are confident that they will be fighting to get a good result.”
Al Wehdat will be without defender Mohammad Al Basha who misses the tie through suspension, but welcome back reinforcements to their backline in Basem Fathi who returns after serving a two-match ban.
Opponents Al Wahda are also bolstered by a returnee with goalkeeper Taha Mousa available for selection after missing last month’s victory over Al Wehdat with suspension, but their coach, Mohamed Shabrak, knows it will be a tough task to do the double over their Jordanian adversaries.
“I previously mentioned that playing against Al Wehdat requires a lot of effort to achieve a positive result like the one that we had last time. We are trying our best to improve the physical abilities of our players and hopefully they can perform well,” said Al Wahda coach Shabrak, who will be without the services of midfielder Mahmoud Khadouj through injury.
“We have previously defeated Al Wehdat and we were the better side in that match. I hope that we can repeat the same performance and good result and hopefully we can finish on top of the group.”
Photo: WSG