The season concludes today with the final of the Pro League Cup at Al Nahyan Stadium
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Sharjah coach Roman Olario Cosmin. Cinematographer: Eric Arazas
Eye coach Sergey Rebrov. Cinematographer: Najeeb Mohammed
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At 19:30 pm today, all eyes will be on Al Nahyan Stadium, which will be the scene of the announcement of the champion of the Pro League Cup «Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Cup» between Al Ain and Sharjah in the third final match between the two teams in the current season, after the «King» had been crowned at the expense of «leader» Super Cup and President's Cup titles respectively.
While Al Ain hopes to win the title to save its season so as not to come out empty-handed, Sharjah wants to control all the season's cups to win a historic treble.
The "purple" appears in the final of the tournament for the fourth time in its history and the second in a row, and looks forward to becoming the first team to be crowned with the championship in two consecutive editions, as it was crowned in the last edition at the expense of Shabab Al-Ahli, in return Sharjah is playing the second final in its history and the first since 2014-15.
Al Ain started their campaign in the tournament from the quarter-finals as the defending champions, playing four matches until reaching the final match, winning one match and losing in the same, drawing two, scoring five goals and conceding three, and coming out in one match with a clean sheet, with an average possession of 51%.
Al Ain players also shot 55 shots, including 14 on goal, and one shot between the posts and the crossbar, and the players passed 1723 passes, of which 1455 were correct with an accuracy of 84%.
On the other hand, Sharjah played six confrontations, won three matches, lost one match and drew two, scored 10 goals and conceded six, and came out with a clean sheet in three matches, and his average possession came 55%, and his players shot 69 shots, including 23 on goal, and two shots between the posts and the crossbar, and Sharjah players passed 2774 passes, of which 2329 were correct with an accuracy of 84%.
Al Ain team completed its preparations for the match through a number of training sessions at its stadium before concluding it at the stadium, while the team received a big shock after Togolese striker Laba Kodjo recovered from the injury he suffers, which will force Ukrainian coach Sergei Rebrov to play the match in a different style.
Rebrov relies on multiple options to fill the void left by the absence of Lapa Kodjo, starting with playing with a fake striker similar to the half-match in the second leg of the same tournament or relying on young striker Issa Khalfan, but both methods are difficult to compensate for the absence of a player of the size of the Togolese international, who is the most prominent player in the team.
On the other hand, the Sharjah team enters the match under the leadership of its Romanian coach Olario Cosmin, who has become the leader of the scene of the final matches in the cup competitions, for his great ability to decide them in favor of his team, at a time when he will lose the services of a group of players due to injury, according to the press conference.
Rebrov: I'm not afraid of any team
Al Ain coach, Ukrainian Sergei Rebrov, settled the controversy over the possibility of the participation of Togolese international striker Laba Kodjo in today's match, and said in the press conference: «The team will miss the efforts of striker Laba Kodjoe».
On his loss in two finals against Sharjah before today's confrontation, he said: «Losing in the world of football is certainly contained, and I do not fear any team, and I do not fear defeat at all, and the pressures in the world of football are always present and on all members of the game, and it is my duties as a coach to work on analyzing the opponent as necessary, but we had a whole week in order to prepare for tomorrow's match and we hope that we will be in the degree of readiness required».
He continued: "The morale of the team is high and the desire of the players is great to achieve victory and dedicate it to Al Ain fans, and I will adopt a balanced style of play to achieve my team's goals in the final."
Cosmin: All tournaments must be respected
Sharjah coach, Roman Olario Cosmin, confirmed Sharjah's readiness to meet Al Ain, and said in a press conference: His team's goal in the match is to win the championship title.
Sharjah coach revealed the absence of the trio Majid Hassan, Mohammed Abdul Basit and Khalid Al-Dhanhani, pointing out that the team's last exercise on Friday will determine the possibility of the participation of Caio, Djanini and Al-Kasir.
Cosmin added: "All tournaments must be respected and we in Sharjah must try to win the title of this tournament as long as the team qualifies for the final."
The Sharjah coach pointed out that after the team's chances of competing for the league title decreased, he gave the opportunity to a large number of players to participate in the league, and that the players who participated performed well.