Dalić opens the treasure chest of Al-Hilal memories, and reveals his dream with the UAE
What did the Croatian coach say?
The UAE thrashed Yemen, but Zlatko Dalic refused to get carried away. The Croatian coach turned his players' focus straight to Bahrain, a decisive test that could book the UAE's place in the semi-finals of the Arabian Gulf Cup "Gulf 27".
At the pre-match press conference, Dalic stressed that his side knows just how tough the encounter will be, and that they must produce their best to win. "We will play against a strong opponent, and we know what we have to do, and we will give our best to achieve the win," he said. "The Bahrain national team has great experience and a great coach."
Dalic: beating Bahrain achieves our first goal
Beating Bahrain, Dalic explained, would seal qualification to the semi-finals. He wants a better performance than the one his side delivered in the opener, big win over Yemen or not.
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"Every match is important," Dalic said. "And if we win tomorrow we will qualify, and we will have achieved our first goal. Bahrain produced a good match in their previous encounter, and I realise that we too produced a good first match, but we have to offer more."
Forget the Yemen result, the UAE coach urged, and focus on what comes next. "We must forget the Yemen match and focus on the clash with Bahrain, seize every opportunity, and make our defence our strong point," he said.
He added: "After our match against Yemen and scoring four goals, everyone has started talking about us, but we have to focus on the next match and go step by step. I hope we repeat what we produced against Yemen, and achieve qualification tomorrow."
We are not favourites: Dalic refuses to pressure his players
Dalic refused to name the UAE among the favourites for the title. His goal is the semi-finals, nothing more, and he won't heap fresh pressure on his players in a competition this strong.
"We are not favourites for the tournament, and I want to reach our first goal by qualifying to the semi-finals, and I do not want to put new pressure on the players," he said.
"The public asks for the best, but I cannot put pressure on our players," he continued. "I do not want to send a negative message or say that we are the best, we are going step by step."
The strength of the field was not lost on the Croatian, who warned the competition would be anything but easy. "As I said, we are not the favourites, and there are strong teams in the tournament such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia," he added.
Al-Hilal memories present, and a new dream with the UAE
Memories of his spell in Saudi Arabia with Al-Hilal came flooding back for Dalic, who hopes to achieve something similar now with the UAE.
"I have beautiful memories here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with Al-Hilal, and I hope to achieve something with the UAE as I achieved with Al-Hilal," the Croatian coach said.
Jimenez: we want to make the fans happy
UAE player Nicolas Jimenez echoed his coach on the difficulty of the Bahrain clash, underlining what the Gulf Cup means to the players and the quality of the sides in it.
"As the coach said, the match is difficult, and taking part in this tournament is an important matter, and all the teams in it are strong," Jimenez said.
He added: "We have to analyse our previous match to be ready for the clash with Bahrain, absorb the coach's instructions, and give our best. We represent a great national team, and this is an important tournament, and we seek to make the fans and the coach happy."
Jimenez signed off with a message of thanks to the supporters, promising the players would do everything to reward them. "I thank our fans for their encouragement, and we will give everything we have to make them happy," he said.
