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Brosque: Arabian Gulf Super Cup rivalry heating up

Al Ain striker Alex Brosque is anticipating a hard-fought contest as his League-winning side take on President’s Cup winners Al Ahli in the Arabian Gulf Super Cup on Friday, and the Australian international says there is no love lost between the two sides. Brosque, however, will be forced to watch the game from the stands at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium having undergone a minor surgical procedure during the team’s pre-season training camp last week. “We thought about maybe holding out until after the Super Cup to do the surgery, but since we were here in Austria and the specialist is in Germany it made more sense to do it now,” Brosque explained. “It’s a real shame I’ll miss out on playing in the match but, looking at the bigger picture, it was better to get it done now before the season starts. The specialist says I’ll be back ready to play very quickly, but unfortunately not Super Cup-quickly.”

Though clearly disappointed that he will not make it onto the pitch for Friday’s season opener, the 29-year-old is eagerly awaiting the big match. “It will be a really exciting game, especially with all the build-up during the off season,” Brosque said. “I think it will be one of the most exciting games we’ve seen in the UAE in a while; obviously there are several big derbies, but I think Al Ain versus Al Ahli is really starting to reach a good climax for everybody in the country. Having a strong rivalry like this definitely improves the League and gets more people interested,” he added. “There’s a lot of hype going into this game, and on one hand you don’t want to put too much pressure on it because if the result doesn’t go your way, you don’t want to think that’s the end of your season; there’s a long way to go in the other competitions. But it’s a Cup at the end of the day, and of course you want to kick the season off with a trophy and get one over your biggest rivals at the same time.”

With Al Ain based in the Austrian town of Lienz for a 2-week pre-season training camp, and Friday’s opponents Al Ahli just a couple of hours away in Seefeld ahead of the grudge match, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the teams’ proximity to one another on foreign soil may have added fuel to the friendly fire. When asked whether there has been any pre-match winding up between the two teams, Brosque replied: “I haven’t heard too much to be honest from the other camp, but I would imagine between the local boys there’s been some banter flying around. But in general I think they’ve been doing their thing and we’ve been doing ours.” No stranger to the concept of healthy competition in football, the Socceroo star added: “It’s good to develop this kind of rivalry. It’s like a healthy kind of ‘hate’ between the teams, and adds a guaranteed edge to the game.”

Al Ain returned to the UAE on Saturday to continue final preparations before Friday’s big game in Abu Dhabi, and spirits are high in the squad following a constructive pre-season training camp. Though his name will not be present on the Arabian Gulf Super Cup team sheet, Brosque is clear about which name will be engraved on the Cup come the end of the game. “I’m confident in our boys that we can get a good result. Lifting a trophy in the first match would be a great way to start the season.”

 

Join Alex Brosque watching the Arabian Gulf Super Cup match from the sidelines - a limited number of tickets for tomorrow's game are still available to purchase from the front desk at Al Jazira Club, Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.