Today's Edition
KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
Al Ain have replaced their coach Leonardo Jardim even as the door closed on the Asian Champions League (ACL) holders in their title defence, the main goal for their season, when they lost 2-1 to Al Rayyan at their Hazza bin Zayed Stadium home on Monday night. Kaku scored first for Al Ain, only to see the rivals rally back and emerge winners.
The incoming candidate is the former Watford coach Vladimir Ivic and the task will be difficult for him to placate the “Ainawi” – fans of Al Ain – as their club slipped out of the West division in the revamped format for the now ACL Elite, failing to even finish in the top eight out of 12 teams. Meanwhile for the UAE, the Dubai club are doing well in comparison in fifth place.
Al Ain had two matches to play but Monday’s result meant the final game becomes inconsequential. Yet, the final straw for Al Ain approaching the ACL tie against Al Rayyan after a two-month break was the fact that Jardim was in talks with Brazilian club Cruzeiro and looking to bail out, according to a report from Telecom Asia Sport.
The appointment of Ivic was not confirmed at the time of writing, but Al Ain posted a farewell message on their X account to confirm that Jardim’s departure along with his team.
“Al Ain Football Club has reached an agreement with Portuguese coach Leonardo Jardim and his technical staff to terminate their contract by mutual consent. The club extends its sincere gratitude and appreciation to the coach and his staff for their efforts during their tenure, wishing them success in their future endeavours,” the club said.
Jardim took over in November from Hernan Crespo, the ACL-winning coach, in the middle of a long slump domestically and internationally for the club. A two-month break allowed Al Ain some respite to focus on the ADNOC Pro League and the UAE President’s Cup, where they bowed out at the quarter-final stage to Al Jazira and have slipped into fourth spot in the league.
Now Ivic has reportedly been given an 18-month contract worth €4 million (Dh15.25m), according to the same report, as he tries to ensure the 14-time UAE champions Al Ain add to that tally.
Jardim, following the Al Rayyan loss, was queried on his future with the club but he played it down completely by saying: “I will not talk about my future with the team, but only about Al Ain. Since I came, the team has been the same, its level has not improved in the Champions League, but the negative results continued, and the improvement was only in the league matches.
“We played a completely balanced match but made clear defensive mistakes, which resulted in two goals for the opponents... I bear responsibility for the decline in results in the past period, of course, and today’s loss.”
In the Pro League, Al Ain are fourth in the table with 23 points behind Sharjah, Shabab Al Ahli, and Al Nasr. Al Ain had a remarkable campaign last season, under Crespo, clinching the Asian title by eliminating Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr, followed by a stunning victory over Al Hilal, featuring Aleksandar Mitrovic and Omar Khirbin, before sealing the trophy in the final against Yokohama Marinos.
Ivic enters the fray with a strong support staff, including his close aid and assistant Milos Veselinovic. The presence of the experienced Italian Matteo Lombardo and Greek specialists Nikolaos Amanatidis and Christos Kelpekis make it a strong backroom staff.
