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Al-Ittihad coach Jose Luis Sierra is hoping to finish a disappointing season on a high by defeating Al-Faisaly in the King’s Cup on Saturday.
The Jeddah giants finished ninth in the 2017-18 Saudi Pro League that ended last month, but they can qualify for next year’s AFC Champions League by lifting the King’s Cup trophy for the ninth time.
Sierra knows it will not be easy against an Al-Faisaly team that finished three places higher in the league, a performance that saw opposite number Vuk Rasovic named coach of the season.
“We haven’t beaten them this season and so we will have to play with all our strength and determination,” Sierra told ��������Ƶn television. “They have a great coach in Rasovic who deserved his award.
“We have prepared well for the final and had a successful training camp in the UAE to give the players the right environment away from the pressure of the final.”
These are troubled times for the two-time champions of Asia. Unmet financial obligations to players and coaches were a major factor in the team not being granted an AFC club license needed to participate in this year’s AFC Champions League. With help from the General Sports Authority, the club is attempting to return to an even financial keel.
“We fought against tough circumstances,” said Sierra, who will welcome goalkeeper Fawaz Al-Qarni back from a national team training camp in Spain.
“We have not been able to sign players and we also lost one of the best players in the country in Fahad Al-Muwallad,” added the coach in reference to the star winger being loaned to La Liga club Levante in January. “We challenged for third place for a long time which is better than many clubs could have managed in our situation.”
Sierra refused to confirm whether he will stay for next season, adding his decision will rest on whether he will be able to strengthen the squad. “We need to end the problems that we have had this year, both on and off the pitch, and according to that I will decide whether to go or stay but if the issues continue, it will be difficult to stay.”
It is definitely the final game in charge of Faisaly for coach Rasovic, according to reports in Serbia.
The former Partizan Belgrade boss arrived in ��������Ƶ in May last year and took the club to within a point of the top four. A move to the UAE club Al-Dhafra beckons.
“We had a tough route to get to the final and we expect another tough game,” said Rasovic. “It has not been easy to prepare because the league ended in April and we have been without competitive games but we are ready.”
Despite the difference in league positions, Al-Ittihad are seen as favorites, but Rasovic has other ideas.
“We have faced Al-Ittihad three times this season, twice in the league and once in a friendly, and we have not lost, so it will not be an easy task for them to win,” he said.
“We are not afraid of Al-Ittihad. If we play to our level then we don’t need to worry about them. I am concerned only about how our players perform.”