He praised Ahmed Khalil's level and expected a soon return to "Amouri".

Mahdi: Abdul Razzaq was not bad... and the change in the way he played was behind his replacement

Al-Ahly youth coach Mahdi Ali said, "The player Saud Abdul Razzaq was not bad until he was replaced in the 20th minute of the first half of his match against Al Ain, and that the matter was done because of a change in the way of playing, not because of the player's level."

Mahdi said in the press conference after the exciting 1-1 draw against Al Ain in the eighth round of the ADNOC Professional League the day before yesterday: "The player's performance was not bad, but the team in general did not start the match well, and we did not have success because of the lack of a spearhead, so The way of playing should have been changed after 20 minutes, and I see that Saud Abdul Razzaq played well and was not bad until I changed it, but the change is tactical in the first place.”

He added, "We played a strong match against a team that tops the league, and Al Ain relatively outperformed in the first half. As for the second half, the performance improved and we missed many opportunities."

He praised the participation of Ahmed Khalil, who returned from a long absence due to injury, and said: “We wished that Khalil would be more ready to get more time, so we did not want to rush his participation, and in general we saw that he gave the team a great addition, and he could have scored a goal and created an opportunity.” Dangerous, and I am happy with his level and I hope he continues in the same way, which is certainly a great gain for us.”

He concluded his statements by confirming that "Omar Abdul Rahman is going through the rehabilitation period, and that he expects to return to participate in the matches very soon."

Al-Ain is at the top of the standings with 18 points, from three draws and five victories, while Al-Ahly Youth is third with 15 points, from four wins, three draws and one loss.

• 3 draws for each of the leaders Al-Ain and Al-Ahly, the third in the league, and three points between them

Rebrov: Al Ain does not play for a draw.. I only care about my team

Al-Ain coach, Ukrainian Rebrov, said, "Al-Ain does not play for a draw. The first and last goal is always winning. It is not in my interests for the league to benefit from the Al-Ain and Shabab Al-Ahly tie, because we lost two points with respect to the opponent."

He said in the press conference: "I do not look at the competition, except as much as I think and care about the interest of my team only, and we have sought to achieve victory."

He said that "his team was the best in the first half, but he explained the decline in the second by pressure and fatigue due to participating only a few days ago in the cup."

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