Al Jazira eye President’s Cup semi-final berth

Franky Vercauteren has called on his Al Jazira players to take the fighting spirit that saw them seal a thrilling victory in the Abu Dhabi derby into tonight’s President’s Cup clash with Ajman. The defending champions scored three goals in the last 12 minutes to beat Al Wahda 4-2, and Vercauteren hopes they can carry that momentum into tonight’s quarter-final at the Zabeel Stadium. “It’s important to see the same spirit and also the same quality as against Al Wahda. Of course what was good has to stay good, that’s the biggest challenge, and what was not good we have to do better,” the Belgian said. “But I think in general how we started, how we fought, how we reacted after 1-2, I have to be very happy.” Having beaten Al Shabab in the round of 16, Jazira appear to have an appealing route to the final and victory tonight would leave either Ittihad Kalba or Sharjah standing in their way. Vercauteren isn’t letting his thoughts drift any further than tonight’s match though, as he is well aware of the danger possessed by Abdul Alwab Abdulkadir’s side. “I saw their last two games,” Vercauteren said. “In the first game, they gave Shabab problems and Shabab could only make the difference in the last few minutes. In the other one they made a very good result against Sharjah and they were very efficient. That means they didn’t need a lot of chances and they scored a lot, and easily in the chances they had. “That I understand and I know, and I’m going to tell the players we have a game we have to win, a difficult game against an opponent who knows that the shortest way to win something is the President’s Cup. But again for me, the same as against Al Wahda, we have to win, and we know it’s going to be very difficult against a very motivated Ajman.” Jazira will be without the suspended Jumaa Abdulla for the clash while Ahmed Jumaa is a doubt with an ankle knock. Elsewhere, Sharjah will be hoping for some respite against second tier Ittihad. The King are seven time winners of the President’s Cup but have struggled this season and their first round defeat of Dibba was one of only two wins for the team since the end of October.