In an expected move, the Al Ain Football Club Company announced today the dismissal of the Argentine coach, Hernan Crespo, and his assistant staff, against the backdrop of the recent results suffered by “Al-Zaeem”, the most recent of which was a 4-5 loss to Al-Hilal Saudi Arabia and a 1-5 loss to Al-Nassr Saudi Arabia in the AFC Champions League, in addition to the defeat. 3-0 victory over Al-Ahly of Egypt in the Intercontinental Confederations Cup. Crespo’s experience with Al Ain is full of contradictions, especially in his first season, between continental success and local failure.
The club said in a statement of dismissal via its official account on the application:X“The Board of Directors reached an agreement with coach Crespo and his supporting staff to end the retirement relationship, and the Board thanks the technical staff for the professionalism of the work and its efforts with the team and for contributing to achieving the Asian achievement, but the results in the recent period were not up to the ambition.”
The statement added: “The Board of Directors confirms that the name of the next coach will be announced in the coming hours after the official completion of the contracting procedures.”
The Al Ain Club Football Company had contracted with Crespo in November 2023 to succeed the Dutchman Alfred Schroeder, which was a corrective step that later contributed to Al-Zaeem’s achievement under the leadership of the new coach in winning the AFC Champions League title, which made him a hero in the eyes of the fans, especially since the title was Absent for two decades.
Despite the peak of Asian successes, the local challenges in his first season were great as he was eliminated from all competitions, but the joy of the continental title that overshadowed the local results last season faded after a series of successive negative results suffered by the team.
The coach’s balance began to run out specifically after the loss to Al-Ahly of Egypt, as Hernan Crespo made Al-Ain miss out on achieving many gains in that match, most notably crowning “Al-Zaeem” with a new title that he had never achieved before as champion of half the world, and raising his chances of obtaining the title. A medal in the Intercontinental Championship, in addition to the value of the prize money that he was scheduled to receive if he defeated “Red,” amounting to two million US dollars.
The Argentine coach has continued his failures with Al Ain since he took over the leadership of the first football team in November of last year, as he was only able to achieve one championship in the AFC Champions League, while last season he failed to obtain any local championship, in addition to bidding farewell. Intercontinental Championship recently.
During his career with Al Ain, Crespo led the team in 49 matches in various competitions, winning only 22 matches, losing 20 matches and drawing seven matches, achieving the lowest percentage of results with “Al-Zaeem” among the foreign coaches who coached him in the past years. Note that the team scored 99 goals under his leadership, while conceding 83 goals
It is noteworthy that Crespo led the Al Ain team in 14 matches this season, achieving six victories, five defeats, and a draw in three, as the team currently occupies last place in the Asian Elite Championship with one point, and has also taken great steps away from competing for the ADNOC Professional League title with his presence. In eighth place in the league table, with only eight points in the five matches he has played so far.
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