The coach of Al-Wasl, the Swede Masoud Merrell, confirmed that the "Emperor" put in a strong performance against Al-Jazira yesterday, expressing his pride in the players' performance in the first match he leads the team, despite the goalless draw in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Professional League Cup (Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Cup). Merrell said at a press conference: "We played well in the first half, the players delivered the required performance, and the match was fast-paced from both teams. In the second half, it was necessary for the players to be physically stronger." As for leading the team for the first time, he said: "I know 60% of the Al-Wasl players from my previous work with Serbian coach Milos Milojkovic, while the rest of the players need more time to adapt to the style of play." Regarding whether Al-Wasl's priority is to compete for the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Cup after being eliminated from the President's Cup and the team losing many points in the league, he said: "I fully know what Al-Wasl's ambitions are, and we play to win in any match we play, so our thinking is currently focused on our next match against Ajman in the league." The Swedish coach expressed his happiness at coaching Al-Wasl, saying: "I am leading a big team that has a wide fan base, and we hope the performance will improve in the upcoming matches, as we have a big job ahead of us, and we will work in the coming period to develop the performance, and it is not necessary to change the style of play, but the most important thing is for the team to deliver a good performance with the group of players it has." Goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Wali had led Al-Wasl to a draw with Al-Jazira in a match of a moderate level, as danger was absent from the goalkeepers, while Al-Jazira was awarded a penalty after goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Wali obstructed player Nikola Vukic, but he shone and saved the ball that was shot by player Simon Panza (59).
