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The 2010/11 Etisalat Cup Champion will be decided this Friday

Al Ain and Al Shabab are set to battle it out on Friday, April 29 to determine the Champions of the Etisalat Cup Competition, when they meet in the final at Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi at 7:35pm.

Both squads have conducted a series of training sessions at their home grounds before going into a two-day, closed warm up camp in Abu Dhabi.. The two teams will conclude their preparations with a final training session on Thursday evening at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium.

Both teams ended the preliminary stage of this competition on top of their groups after securing five wins each, with Al Ain drawing four games and losing only once in the last encounter against Al Wahda. Al Shabab lost twice to their city rivals Al Wasl who beat them 1-0 and 2-1 in their home and away matches.

The two teams continued their winning streak in the semifinals, when Al Ain outclassed Al Wasl 3-2 and Al Shabab beat Al Wahda 3-1 to qualify for Friday's final.

The coaches will field their full squads for Friday's crucial match, as it will be their only chance for silverware this season considering both teams are out of the race for the Etisalat Pro-League championship.  However, Al Ain's Brazilian coach Alexander Gallo is unlikely to include Romanian player Valentin in the starting line-up as he is currently not happy with his performance. Gallo said he has put a number of his team's strikers to the test during training sessions in order to find a player who can solve their problem of not being able to find the back of the net and to convert the chances that are coming their way.

Mattar Al Sahbani, Al Ain team's supervisor said that the game will be difficult for both teams and that his players are likely to play under pressure given the bad performaces they have demonstrated recently.

Khalid Bu Humaid of Al Shabab said that the game is crucial for both teams as it is their last opportunity to come out with a championship title this season. He said "We have lost our chance in all the domestic competitions and are only left with Etisalat Cup, but I am confident our team will win this trophy."