All eyes will be on the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain City at 19:30 this evening, to watch the final match of the President’s Cup Football Competition, in its 47th edition, which brings together the Al Wasl and Al Nasr teams.
The Dubai Derby is of great importance due to the need of both clubs to restore the luster of the past and stand again on the podium for the most expensive local competition cups.
The confrontation will be historic between the two teams, in a scene that will occur for the first time in 38 years, after they met in the final of the 1985-1986 season, which ended in favor of the “Dean” 2-1.
Technically, Al-Wasl is presenting a distinguished season at the level of the local championships, as it is at the top of the ADNOC Professional League standings with 55 points, six points ahead of its closest competitor (Shabab Al-Ahly), with four matches remaining until the end of the tournament.
Al-Wasl is seeking to repeat the double for the second time in its history, after the first 17 years ago, when it won the league and cup titles in 2007, and then refrained from winning championships.
The “Emperor” hopes to avoid what happened in previous President’s Cup finals, when the dream of lifting the championship cup from his hands was lost on eight previous occasions, while he was crowned champion on only two occasions.
Al-Wasl has great capabilities that make it an extraordinary candidate to win the title this season, thanks to the attacking power it possesses, as its attackers have never been unable to enter the net of competing teams during the 31 matches it has played in all the competitions it has played so far.
Al-Nasr enters the confrontation at its best in terms of matches and results, which prompted the administration to make many adjustments at the level of the technical benches, until it found what it needed with Dutch coach Alfred Schroeder, who made a major shift in the level of the team’s performance since he took over the technical reins.
The dean of Emirati clubs hopes to win his fifth title in the President’s Cup, and to regain his wonderful memories, when he won the championship in 2015, after defeating Shabab Al-Ahly on penalties after a positive 1-1 draw in regular and extra time.
Al-Nasr relies heavily on the expertise of its Moroccan player Adel Taarabt, who has become an important element through which he leads the team’s tactical rhythm this season.
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