Athletes stressed that the coach of the national football team, the Portuguese Paulo Bento, did not benefit from the true artistic value of the players produced by the ADNOC Professional League, criticizing the coach’s hints at pinning the failure of “Al-Abyad” in the 26th Arabian Gulf Cup on not postponing the league, as one of the reasons for the early exit. From the group stage, they lost to the Kuwaiti team 1-2, and tied with Qatar and Oman with the same score, 1-1.
They told “Emirates Today” that “the league produced high-level players, but the national team’s coach did not benefit from them to the extent that was commensurate with the amount of efforts made to hold high-quality local competitions, which had a positive impact on the clubs participating in the two AFC Champions League tournaments, and their effects did not appear on ( “Al-Abyad” due to the randomness of “Pinto,” as they put it, in reference to his poor selection of players and the lack of consistency in the “Al-Abyad” lineup.
They stressed that “the regularity of the league’s schedules contributed directly to the rise in the level of most of the league’s clubs and players, and developed their professional mentality and their promise to play under the pressure of successive matches,” considering any changes in the current positive policy for local competitions to be a return to the past.
Artistic bento disasters
For his part, former Al-Wasl and Ajman player, Hassan Zahran, said, “The national team coach, Pinto, is trying to pin his mistakes in (Gulf 26) on the league’s hanger,” adding: “Everyone knows the strength of this coach’s personality, even if he had a serious desire to postpone the 10th round.” For the league championship, I don’t think anyone would have rejected his request.”
He added: “Pinto’s arrogance made him think that he would go to the Gulf Cup and return with the title, but he committed technical disasters that harmed the national team, and instead of acknowledging them, he placed the responsibility on the league field.”
He continued: “I am against the idea of postponing the league championship for any reason. We have not heard or seen that the English Premier League, for example, changed its calendar for a tournament or a match played by the England national team, as it is natural for the league championship to be organized, but the biggest problem lies in the randomness of the coach.” The Portuguese is not good at choosing the squad, even though we now have a strong team, after adding elements of Emirati citizenship to it.”
Zahran explained: “If Pinto continues, things must not be left to him as they were before, and there must be strong intervention by the Technical Committee of the Football Association to discuss his decisions, and the process of selecting players specifically, as the league has produced distinctive elements, and I do not know the reason for the absence of their influence on the team.” In the last matches.
Adverse convictions
In turn, former Al-Shabab player, Issa Obaid, said that the league provided the greatest service to the national team and to the clubs participating in the AFC Champions League.
He added: “The regularity of the league raises the level of players, and expands the base of selection for the coach for the elements that represent him in the best possible way, but the problem with the Portuguese coach is that he did not improve the selection process, and he has convictions that are completely opposite to the sports street.”
He explained: “The coach had a clear international agenda, whether in relation to the World Cup qualifiers or the Gulf Cup tournament, and if he had notes on the times allocated for the national team’s gatherings, he should have made them before setting the calendar for the new season.”
He continued: “One of the features of the league is its well-organized process, and making the Emirati presence in the continental forum very honorable, but unfortunately the coach did not take advantage of all of that, and if he does not know the value of Emirates football correctly, then he must leave his seat from now, and leave it to someone who appreciates him.”
He concluded: “I have great compassion for the players who played in the national team under Pinto’s leadership. He did not develop their level, nor did he address the mistakes of some of them in the matches. If the coach were a responsible person, and as good as his work, he would have communicated with the club coaches to address any negatives or observations during the course of the match.” Periods of players outside the national team.
A departure from the norm
In turn, the former national football team coach, Abdullah Saqr, confirmed that postponing the league to prepare “the Whites” before international tournaments or official matches is tantamount to going backwards.
He said: “The stability of the league is the normal situation, and the opposite of that is a departure from the norm. We were previously demanding regular local competitions for (the Whites), so is it reasonable for the national team coach to come out to us and demand that the competition be postponed, after we began to put our feet on the right path?” ?
He added: “The league competition is the main source of support for the national team with the players it needs, and stopping will harm a large group of remaining players, as the national team coach was supposed to adjust his international programming in light of the local agenda and calendar.”
He continued: “The regularity of local competitions develops the mentality of the national and foreign player together, and accustoms them to playing every three or four days, as is the case in the rest of the world’s leagues. If we speak technically, the sound programming of the league has made the level of performance in the matches rise, and the physical level is clearly on the rise.” “The muscular injuries that players and medical devices complained about in the past have decreased.”
He continued: “The national team coach was supposed to be more keen on the regularity of the competition than anyone else, because he has no other alternatives to summon players for international matches. For example, we do not have professional elements abroad that we can rely on, so the league remains the most prominent means of competition between players to gain honor.” Representing the national team.
Pinto results in “Gulf 26”
Draw with Qatar 1-1
Losing to Kuwait 1-2
Draw with Oman 1-1
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