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Al Wahda to face Wasl
in season opener

The draw ceremony, which was held on the premises of the UAE Football League on Thursday, was attended by top football officials of the UAE FA and representatives of the 12 UFL clubs.

The first round matches of the UFL will get under way on August 26.

Al Jazira, runners-up of the 2009-2010 UFL season, will begin their campaign against Al Nasr at home.

Dubai giants Al Ahli, who won the championship in the 2008-2009 season, will face Al Dhafra away in their opening match of the new season.

In the other first round matches, Al Ain will take on promoted Dubai, Sharjah will lock horns with Kallaba Union, the other promoted club, and Al Shabab will face Baniyas. The first round matches will be played on August 26-27-28. However, the match dates of the clubs have not been announced yet. There will be 22 rounds and the season will end on May 22.

High expectations

Matar Al Darmaki, Vice-chairman of the UAE Football League, congratulated the ‘newly promoted teams’ in the Pro-league and hoped that season would produce great football.

“I hope the fans will get to watch entertaining football from these teams. And as always, the expectations for the new season are quite high. But we do have plans to meet those expectations,” said Matar Al Dharmakai during the draw ceremony.

“Our relationship with the UAE Football Association has always been great. This is one of the reasons behind the success of the country’s professional league.”

The vice-chairman of the UAE League also thanked His Highness The President Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed AL Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi, and His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-president and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, for their support to the professional football league in the country.

Tough season

Eisa Al Mazim, CEO of Al Wahda, is expecting a tough season for his champion team. “I think it’s going to be very tough. But Al Wahda are the ready for the challenges of a new season,” Eisa Al Mazim said during the ceremony.

Champion teams have rarely managed to cope with the pressure of expectations. Last year, Al Ali’s season turned into despair as they finished eighth in the 2009-2010 season.

Mazim, however, is confident that his team is capable of doing better.

“We hope to do better than the previous two defending champions. Most of our players play for the national team. They have the experience of playing top level football.

“I am confident that our team will do well in all the competitions this year. We will also represent UAE in the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi. We will do much better than what Al Ahli did last year.”

Etisalat Super Cup

Meanwhile, the season’s curtain-raiser, the Etisalat Super Cup match, will be held on August 20 at Maktoum Stadium in Dubai. Pro-league winners Al Wahda will battle with President’s Cup winners Emirates for the first silverware of the new season.

Etisalat Cup

The Etisalat Cup draw was also held on Thursday and the 12 Pro-league teams were divided into two groups.

UFL champions Al Wahda will lead Group A while runners-up Al Jazira are in Group B.

The other teams in Group A are Al Ain, Baniyas, Al Dhafra, Al Nasr and Dubai, while Al Jazira will face Al Shabab, Al Wasl, Al Ahli, Sharjah and Kallaba Union in Group B. The Etisalat Cup will get under way on October 9.

rituraj@khaleejtimes.com