Double delight for UAE teams

It finally came good for UAE teams in the Asian Champions League on Tuesday after Al Ain and Ras Al Khaimah's Emirates Club won their respective matches to keep alive their hopes of making it to the knockout stage. Emirates, a First Division club playing on the continental stage for the first time, shocked Saudi Arabia giants Al Shabab 2-1 with both teams finishing the match with ten men. Hadj Bougueche scored in the 25th and 41st minute for Emirates to give them their second successive victory and take them to second in the four-team Group D. Abdul Aziz Al Saran pulled one back for Al Shabab in the 45th minute but was sent off in the 76th minute to hurt his team's chances. Emirates also finished with ten men when Mustafa Salem was given marching orders two minutes later. Iran's Zobahan top Group C with 10 points followed by Emirates (6), Al Shabab (5) and Qatar's Al Rayyan (1). Two teams make it to the knockout round of 16 from each group. Al Ain, also playing at home against China's Hangzhou Greentown, made it a double delight for the UAE with a 1-0 win. Omar Abdul Rahman scored off a brilliant shot in the 60th minute to keep the 2003 AFC Champions League winners in the hunt for a second round berth. Japan's Nagoya Grampus and FC Seoul have seven points each while Al Ain and Hangzhou have four points each with two more rounds of action left in Group C. Al Ain coach Alexandre Gallo was a relieved man after his side's first win in four matches in the Asian Champions League. "We had the game under our control and had good opportunities to score. Though we did not convert all those chances it was good for our confidence. We needed this win because it gives us confidence for the season and also to keep our hopes alive in the AFC Champions League. "If I have to analyse the game then we played very good football. For sure this win brings us confidence for the next coming games. If you skip the second half against Nagoya Grampus in the 4-0 defeat, we played at a very high level in this competition," said the Brazilian, whose team also have a chance of winning the Etisalat Cup. "Now I will tell my men to relax and recover because we want to finish the season with a high and by winning the Etisalat Emirates Cup. Our next games are very big games and it's all in 10 days' time. We have very important games ahead of us as our next game in the League is with Baniyas. "Then we also have the Etisalat Cup final where we meet Al Shabab. Now we have to emphasise on recovery of players and ensure they are ready for the next 10 days," said Gallo. While Waleed Salem returned under the goal after a long absence due to injury, and wearing the captain's band did well to guide his defender, Gallo did highlight the problem of injuries. "We've tried before and we need to keep looking for a solution, that's the way forward for us. It doesn't mean we cannot try to find a solution. "We had a few injuries and there are players coming back so it's good for us. We were missing a few players today, but all in all the team did well to go and win the game. We could have had more goals, but I'll take this result," Gallo said. Meanwhile, Greentown coach Wu Jingui said: "Congrats to Al Ain for winning today. We had a few problems because of a few injuries but I think we played well in the first half. But in the second they scored and we found it difficult to improve and lost the match."