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Sharjah are looking to continue their dramatic resurgence since the 2020 AFC Champions League restarted when they take on Saudi Arabia’s Al Taawoun at the Education City Stadium on Monday night.
The 2018-19 UAE Pro League winners had collected just one point from their two games in February, but have since added three more, narrowly losing to Al Duhail 2-1 then overpowering them 4-2 on Matchday Four of Group C, leaving them two points behind their Monday opponents and three off the top of the group.
Cape Verde pair Ryan Mendez and Ricardo Gomes left the team in the summer, and Brazilian pair Welliton and Caio were brought in. The latter has appeared in four previous editions of the AFC Champions League, racking 23 appearances in the colours of Kashima Antlers and Al Ain whom he had helped to the final in 2016.
“The win against Al Duhail was vital, we needed to win to be motivated again, and now our focus is on the upcoming matches” said the 26-year-old.
“When I came in, we had a lot of time without competitive football, so the coaching staff set up a strong programme aimed at improving our fitness and building confidence and understanding between the new signings and the players already at the club.”
“I played in this competition multiple times and built great experience that I hope can help the team progress.
“For me, the secret to success in the competition is to work really hard but also remain fully focused and take it one game at a time. You should never get distracted and think about the long term,” said Caio.
While Sharjah’s trajectory has headed upwards, Al Taawoun failed to pick up any points in their last two fixtures, having got full marks in the previous two, but newly signed head coach Patrice Carteron is hopeful minor tweaks will help him arrest the downward spiral.
“It is physically very hard to play every three days, but we have to play with heart and try to give it our all against very good opponents,” said the Frenchman.
“I think now I have a better idea of my players and how to use them, but when you play every three days, you do not have time to make major changes, so it is about lifting the players’ spirit and making small changes to the details.
“We watched Sharjah’s last two games because Welliton has just joined this team, and I think they have amazing attacking potential. They are the type of team that is difficult to play against, but they are less difficult physically compared to Persepolis whom I was really impressed with physically.”
When the two sides met in Sharjah back in February, a goal from defender Faisal Darwish was enough to give Al Taawoun their first ever away win in the AFC Champions League.
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21/09/2020
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