Aguirre satified with bench strength after Wahda's win

Dubai - The Abu Dhabi all-maroon clad squad, led in their moves by the evergreen former UAE superstar Ismaeil Matar, finished second in the two-group qualifying phase ahead of Dibba - both with 10 points and a draw in their head-to-head - thanks to a 2-0 win away on The King's turf in Sharjah on Tuesday.

 The Clarets qualified for the semifinals of the Arabian Gulf Cup with a three-goal difference over Group B rivals Dibba on Tuesday night, giving coach Javier Aguirre a great amount of satisfaction that his side managed to advance with their bench strength.
The Abu Dhabi all-maroon clad squad, led in their moves by the evergreen former UAE superstar Ismaeil Matar, finished second in the two-group qualifying phase ahead of Dibba - both with 10 points and a draw in their head-to-head - thanks to a 2-0 win away on The King's turf in Sharjah on Tuesday.
Resourceful Sultan Saif shot Al Wahda into a 1-0 lead in the 49th minute, and adding to the scoreline late was Matar's substitute and import Jorge Valdivia, who made it 2-0 in the 83rd minute to guide The Clarets into the final four phase of the league cum knockout format.
Aguirre, said: "It was a very important game for us in order to please our fans and work towards one of our targets. It was not an easy match especially against a resurgent Sharjah under their caretaker coach Al Anbari (Abdulaziz) who have turned things around as they defeated Al Wasl and Bani Yas in their last two League matches."
"But this wasn't our only aim. We came here on Tuesday night to secure all three points as we were so close to qualifying, of course subject to what Dibba would do earlier in the evening. But, win or lose our aim was to play with no efforts spared," he continued.
"As you know we did it all with the local talent available especially after the injuries and technical problems of our regular frontliners. Denilson and Sebastian Tagliabue were not in our plans and Khalid Bawazir and Mohammed Saif were also out because of injury. The happy note is that our bench strength, made up of UAE experience and skills, were able to deliver on the night." Emirati Abdulaziz Al Anbari's wonderful, 'magical' touch ever since he took over as interim coach three weeks ago, did not work on Tuesday night.
The former Sharjah player, said: "This is my first game in the competition (Arabian Gulf Cup) as the coach, and I knew the group was very complex with four teams mathematically in with a chance to qualify in second place behind the group winners Al Shabab.
"Whatever, after the Dibba result we knew of our fate as far as the championship was concerned before we took to the field, and I advised my side to go all out. However, we played badly for the first time in three matches."
"The first half was all about us trying to counter attack effectively but our setplays and striking combinations could not get moving, and in the second half we were nowhere. This is a big lesson for us and we have to go back to our strategy development seriously with a fresh approach for our assignments in the Arabian Gulf League."