Al Nasr should have an interested observer in ex-Paraguay coach Ramon Diaz for match-week 15 in the Arabian Gulf League.
\nDiaz, 61, was unveiled by the Blue Wave after signing a contract until summer 2022 on Thursday, mere hours before kick-off against resurgent Khor Fakkan, as replacement for 2019\/20 Arabian Gulf Cup winner Krunoslav Jurcic. The former Argentina striker \u2013 who claimed multiple trophies at River Plate and Al Hilal \u2013 takes charge of a side who dropped to fifth following last week\u2019s 3-0 thumping by fellow high flyers Al Jazira.
\n\u201cThe choice of Diaz came after a comparison between several candidates and after a thorough study from the football company,\u201d chairman Abdulrahman Abu Al Shawareb said of a hire who endured a brief stint at Brazil\u2019s Botafogo last November marred by health problems.
\n\u201cOur ambitions are great with the coach.\u201d
\nHuge rivals Al Ain and Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club, meanwhile, meet in a clash neither can afford to lose.
\nBoth giants sit well off the pace in fourth and sixth, respectively, though strengthened their ranks significantly in the winter market. Japan playmaker Shoya Nakajima could finally debut for the hosts after last week\u2019s galling 2-2 draw at Khor Fakkan came too soon, while Uzbekistan magician Jaloliddin Masharipov may be joined in the visitor\u2019s match-day squad by $6 million former Flamengo midfielder Yuri Cesar.
\nA returning hero could be in the ranks of Al Dhafra when they host Jazira.
\nMakhete Diop signed up on Monday\u2019s deadline day once an exit had been negotiated from Saudi Professional League leaders Al Shabab. The 33-year-old netted 77 goals in 109 top-flight run-outs from 2012-16.
\nBottom-placed Hatta could unleash Al Nasr loanee Dostonbek Khamdamov, Sharjah loanee Jonathas and Slovenia centre-back Miral Samardzic at Al Wasl, while ex-Dhafra forward Romulo should debut for Ittihad Kalba versus Ajman.
\nThird-placed Bani Yas will be determined to return to winning ways against relegation-threatened Fujairah and Al Wahda can hope against leaders Sharjah that 2017 AFC Player of the Year Omar Khrbin will build on his goal-scoring debut.
\nMATCH-WEEK 15 FIXTURES
\nThursday
\n17:30 Bani Yas v Fujairah
\n17:30 Al Nasr v Khor Fakkan
\n20:15 Al Wahda v Sharjah
\nFriday
\n17:30 Al Wasl v Hatta
\n17:30 Al Dhafra v Al Jazira
\n20:15 Ittihad Kalba v Ajman
\n20:15 Al Ain v Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Al Nasr should have an interested observer in ex-Paraguay coach Ramon Diaz for match-week 15 in the Arabian Gulf League.
\nDiaz, 61, was unveiled by the Blue Wave after signing a contract until summer 2022 on Thursday, mere hours before kick-off against resurgent Khor Fakkan, as replacement for 2019\/20 Arabian Gulf Cup winner Krunoslav Jurcic. The former Argentina striker \u2013 who claimed multiple trophies at River Plate and Al Hilal \u2013 takes charge of a side who dropped to fifth following last week\u2019s 3-0 thumping by fellow high flyers Al Jazira.
\n\u201cThe choice of Diaz came after a comparison between several candidates and after a thorough study from the football company,\u201d chairman Abdulrahman Abu Al Shawareb said of a hire who endured a brief stint at Brazil\u2019s Botafogo last November marred by health problems.
\n\u201cOur ambitions are great with the coach.\u201d
\nHuge rivals Al Ain and Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club, meanwhile, meet in a clash neither can afford to lose.
\nBoth giants sit well off the pace in fourth and sixth, respectively, though strengthened their ranks significantly in the winter market. Japan playmaker Shoya Nakajima could finally debut for the hosts after last week\u2019s galling 2-2 draw at Khor Fakkan came too soon, while Uzbekistan magician Jaloliddin Masharipov may be joined in the visitor\u2019s match-day squad by $6 million former Flamengo midfielder Yuri Cesar.
\nA returning hero could be in the ranks of Al Dhafra when they host Jazira.
\nMakhete Diop signed up on Monday\u2019s deadline day once an exit had been negotiated from Saudi Professional League leaders Al Shabab. The 33-year-old netted 77 goals in 109 top-flight run-outs from 2012-16.
\nBottom-placed Hatta could unleash Al Nasr loanee Dostonbek Khamdamov, Sharjah loanee Jonathas and Slovenia centre-back Miral Samardzic at Al Wasl, while ex-Dhafra forward Romulo should debut for Ittihad Kalba versus Ajman.
\nThird-placed Bani Yas will be determined to return to winning ways against relegation-threatened Fujairah and Al Wahda can hope against leaders Sharjah that 2017 AFC Player of the Year Omar Khrbin will build on his goal-scoring debut.
\nMATCH-WEEK 15 FIXTURES
\nThursday
\n17:30 Bani Yas v Fujairah
\n17:30 Al Nasr v Khor Fakkan
\n20:15 Al Wahda v Sharjah
\nFriday
\n17:30 Al Wasl v Hatta
\n17:30 Al Dhafra v Al Jazira
\n20:15 Ittihad Kalba v Ajman
\n20:15 Al Ain v Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30553"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30554,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30553\/revisions\/30554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}