Al-Ahly youth, this afternoon, at 05:30, clashes with the Bani Yas team at the Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain Club, within the President’s Cup quarter-finals, in the third meeting between the two teams in the competition, since the beginning of the professional era, at a time when the memory of the masses is still "Al-Fursan" remembers the bitterness of the loss in the 2008 edition against "The Heavenly", and was playing at the time in the Amateur League, but was able to strip him of the title early in the round of 16 by defeating him with a clean goal scored by the Senegalese striker Baba George.
Al-Ahly youth desperately want to celebrate the joy of the first victory in February, after being struck by luck in four games, as it started with a draw with Fujairah, then the loss from Al-Jazira in the league, and defeat in the first two matches of the AFC Champions League against Pakhtakor, the Uzbek and the Saudi Hilal.
The Argentine coach, Rodolfo Aruabarena, is facing a lot of pressure due to the decline in results since the beginning of this month, which has created a fertile climate for rumors circulating on social media about dispensing his services and hiring another coach.
The youth of Al-Ahly are suffering the absence of its star Leonardo, as well as Ahmed Khalil, and his bet will be on the trio of Ismail Al Hammadi, Condi and Lovanor. On the other hand, Bani Yas, under the leadership of veteran German and expert Winfried Schaefer, realizes that reaching the semi-finals will be an important achievement for the team.
Schaefer has extensive experience in the Emirati football, as he got a golden opportunity to study his opponent from within the Rashid Stadium in the Al-Hilal meeting, and he said that he knows Al-Ahly youth well, and continued in the press conference: “It is important for us when we face them to dominate the match and to be the attacking party.” .
The confrontation between the two teams is renewed a week from now, when Bani Yas, next Friday, receives Al-Ahly youth in the 17th round of the Arab Gulf League.
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