Memories of the 'comeback' overlook the first leg of the cup semi-finals

The link and the eye. Mission «Save the season»

From the match between Al Ain and Al Wasl last December in the league championship. Emirates Today

Al Wasl and Al Ain will be looking to "save the season" when they meet at 10pm at Al Wasl Stadium in Zabeel in the first leg of the President's Cup semi-final, as the two teams seek to gain an advantage before the ongoing second leg match at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.

The memories of the exciting match and the comeback witnessed by the two teams last season in the quarter-finals of the cup, when Al Wasl turned its delay against Al Ain with a goal into a two-goal victory, in the fatal time through Brazilian Gilberto Oliveira.

Al Ain won the 2018 final by two goals to one, and the Emperor won the 2019 final 5-3, while the Leader won the 2020 quarter-finals 6-5, before the yellow beat last season by two goals to one.

The two teams enter the meeting with great focus, after each of them moved away from competing for the ADNOC Professional League title, with Al Ain drawing at home with Shabab Al Ahli with a goal for each team, so that the Dubai Knights retained the top of the standings list, five points ahead of Violet before the end of the competition by five rounds, while Al Wasl missed the opportunity to approach the lead, and lost at home to Al Jazira by two goals to one, and six points away from Shabab Al Ahli.

The cup championship is the last chance for the 'Cheetahs' to achieve a title in the current season, and the culmination of the exceptional season presented by the team after the many changes that affected the 'yellow' at the level of the club's management, technical staff and players, as coach Antonio Pizzi hopes that Al Wasl will qualify for the final for the first time since 2018, and achieve his first local title since winning the historic double league and cup in the 2006-2007 season.

As for Al Ain, they will play the match with the aim of achieving a result that will facilitate their task in the second leg at home, especially that the "leader" has become very focused on the cup competition, after losing the Super Cup title to Sharjah, and complicated his task in the league, while he will also play the semi-finals of the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Cup against Al Nasr next May.

For his part, Al Ain defender Eric Jorginis promised the fans of the "Leader" to achieve victory today, and said that they are fully prepared to face their opponent, and that they are well aware of what is required of them as players in the match.

He stressed in a press conference: "I promise Al Ain fans that we will strive as a team to make them happy, in order to achieve a strong result, and dedicate them to the victory in Zabeel."

He added: "Al Ain is a big club, and always works to make its fans happy by achieving the best results, and although we did not win in the last two games, but the team presented a good level, but it did not succeed, and we are determined to translate good performance into strong results and return to the path of victories starting from today's match."