Al Ain team repeated its worst start in the history of its participation in the Asian Championship, which happened in the 2020 edition, when it scored one point after four rounds, which was the reason for its exit from the first round, but the pressure in the current version of the continental championship is greater on “Al-Zaeem” because he is pregnant. title, and his early exit would not be acceptable to his fans, which led to the end of the relationship with the Argentine coach, Hernan Crespo, after the decision to dismiss him was issued by Al Ain Football Company, and thanks were extended to him and his technical staff in the hope that the decision would be the beginning of correcting the course in light of the state of discontent. The fans’ support for him, especially since the results he has achieved since the beginning of the season do not suffice for him to remain in his position.
Al-Zaeem began its campaign in the current edition with a 1-1 draw at home against its guest Al-Sadd of Qatar, and lost in the second round away from its stadium to Al-Gharafa of Qatar 2-4, and continued its decline in the competition with a defeat against Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia 4-5, this time in its stadium. In front of his fans, while the day before yesterday, he suffered a loss to Al-Nasr Saudi Arabia 1-5.
During its participation in the 2020 edition, the “Violet” had started the journey with a 0-4 loss at home against Sepahan of Iran in the first round, a 1-2 defeat against Al-Nassr of Saudi Arabia in the second round in Riyadh, and a 3-3 draw at home against Al-Sadd of Qatar in The third, and a 0-4 loss to Al-Sadd in the fourth round, noting that it tied 0-0 against Sepahan in the fifth at home, and won against Al-Nasr in the last round in Riyadh, to be eliminated from the first round.
In addition to the “Scenario 2020”, Al Ain in the current version became the most defeated team in the Al Gharb Group in the competition, after four full rounds had passed, as “Al Zaeem” lost in three matches, and tied in one match. After Qatar’s Al Rayyan defeated Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor with a clean goal, Al Ain fell to last place, becoming the only team that did not achieve any victory.
Al-Zaeem became the team that conceded the most goals, with 15 goals in only four matches (five from Al-Hilal, the same from Al-Nasr, four from Al-Gharafa, and one from Al-Sadd), followed by the Iraqi Police, who conceded 11 goals, and Al-Gharafa came third, conceding eight goals. It is also the first time that he has conceded this number of goals in the first four rounds.
In practice, the position of the “defending champion” in qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Western Region has become complicated, and requires winning all four remaining matches, and losing its competitors, in order to ensure obtaining one of the eight qualifying places.
Crespo justified the heavy 1-5 loss that “Al-Zaeem” suffered at the hands of Saudi Al-Nassr in “Elite” as “normal, and that the club’s management knows the flaw.” He said in the press conference, after the end of the match: “The situation is normal, and the administration knows what is wrong, and what happened last season was a miracle,” and he added, “Al-Nasr was the best team, and it deserved to win.”
The Argentine pointed out that the trend was to build a team to compete locally, and said: “Al Ain was built to compete locally, but things did not go well, and we are trying to compete in Asia. Last season we defeated Al-Nasr and Al-Hilal, and it is impossible to win every match.”
Negative results for coach Crespo in the current season
• Loss to Al Hilal Saudi Arabia 4-5 (Elite).
• Loss to Al-Gharafa of Qatar 2-4 (Elite).
• Loss to Al-Ahly of Egypt 0-3 (Continental Cup).
• Loss from Al Wahda 1-2 (ADNOC Professional League).
• A 1-1 draw against Dibba Al Hisn (ADNOC Professional League).
• Al-Zaeem’s position in qualifying is “complicated”… He must win the remaining 4 matches and wait for the results of his opponents.
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