Injury list giving Hilal coach headaches

AFC – ESFAHAN, Coach Eric Gerets bemoaned the length of his injury list ahead of Al Hilal’s AFC Champions League semi-final first-leg clash against Iran’s Zob Ahan on Wednesday.

The Saudi double winners will be without Khaled Aziz, Hasan Kheirat and Brazilian playmaker Thiago Neves for the match against the Iranian league leaders, while key striker Yasser Al Qahtani is a doubt.

And Gerets conceded the injuries could not have come at a worse time for Al Hilal.

“After 18 months of consistent success, Al Hilal are having difficult days and we’ve lost players to injury when we need them most,” said the Belgian, who also revealed that he intends to extend his contract with the Riyadh giants.

Al Qahtani, who is nicknamed ‘The Sniper’, went off after 42 minutes of their 1-0 Saudi Pro League win over Al Ittifaq on Friday and will only play subject to a fitness test.

However, the Saudi Arabia international outlined his intention to play regardless of his condition against Zob Ahan.

“Our fans don’t need to worry; I’ll play against Zob Ahan even if it’s on one leg,” he said.

Added to Geret’s injury worries is the absence of influential Romanian midfielder Mirel Radoi, who is on international duty, and the club’s woeful away form in the ACL which is yet to yield a victory.

But Gerets sought to draw a line beneath such concerns by making bold predictions that his side will prove they ultimately deserve to be crowned Asia champions.

“Tomorrow we will prove that we’re the best team in Asia,” added the former Marseille coach.

“We’ve come a long way to reach this stage and the players are very excited and there is a great spirit (within the team).

“We’ve won all our five league matches (this season) and we’ll use this form to show that we’re the best team in Asia.

“The teams in the Saudi league are of an excellent quality but the situation in Asia is totally different because it’s home and away.

“Our most important objective is to stay our focused for 90 minutes. If we do that, we can beat anyone.”