Former international player and technical analyst Ali Thani stated that the Sharjah team, despite its recent transfers, still needs to attract distinguished players of high quality to bring the team back to the podium of honors in the next season. In the current season, the team has been knocked out of the competition for all domestic titles. It was eliminated from the President's Cup and the Professional League Cup, and currently sits in ninth place in the Professional League with 17 points after the 15th round.Ali Thani confirmed to 'Al-Ittihad' that Sharjah's chances of advancing to the next round of the AFC Champions League are still alive, especially since it will face Uzbekistan's Nasaf, who is at the bottom of the table with one point, in the final round.He added: 'In light of the previous mistakes that occurred, the team needs a great deal of work. Despite having good elements, the team lacked confidence, organization, and several technical aspects. However, the current Portuguese coach, José Moraes, has reorganized and structured the team better.'Ali Thani emphasized that there are some players who are below the standard to represent Sharjah Club, pointing out that the team, which possesses great potential and enjoys wide support, used to compete strongly in all tournaments in previous seasons.Regarding Sharjah's 1-1 draw away against Al-Duhail of Qatar the day before yesterday, in the seventh round of the AFC Champions League, and its retention of eighth place with eight points, Ali Thani explained that the team played a good match, confirming Sharjah's superiority over Qatari clubs. This is evidenced by its recent victory in the UAE-Qatar Super Cup over Al-Gharafa, as well as its victory over Al-Gharafa in the AFC Champions League, and its triumph over Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahli, the Asian champion.He said: 'These results confirm that Sharjah has the potential, but it needs to strengthen its ranks with some influential players.' He continued: 'In light of the change in the technical staff from the previous coach Milos to the current coach José Moraes, along with the change of some elements, the team needs time to appear at the required level.' Ali Thani stressed the importance of working on building a strong team capable of competing in all tournaments by supporting it with elements of high quality, especially in the category of resident players, emphasizing the need to follow the example of Al-Ahli's youth team as a successful model in attracting distinguished players, which has made it a strong presence in various tournaments, with the importance of entrusting the file of contracts to specialists.
