Sharjah players attend a training session ahead of their AFC Champions League match against Pakhtakor.

Mohammad Abdullah, Satff Reporter

Pakhtakor FC coach Pieter Huistra has slammed the newly proposed European Super League (ESL) which was announced by twelve European football’s most powerful clubs on Monday.

The new controversial breakaway European Super League has taken the football fraternity by a storm, especially in Europe.

A consortium of 12 biggest European clubs, who share 99 titles among them, announced to launch a parallel league to the prestigious Champions League.

The unequal distribution of the huge windfall from continental competition is supposed to have prompted the decision by the clubs, who often grumbled and have shown dissent for the same.

“As a sports person, I will not approve of this. You have to win your place by winning the matches and the tournament. Moreover, it is also a closed tourney.

“Once you are in you cannot come out of it. I don’t have much details of the tournament, how it will be played. But I am sure that this will happen in the next five to ten years because all the big clubs and big guys want it to happen,” said Huietra.

“But even if they want to do this, they should have done it gradually in a proper way,” he added.

Meanwhile, Pakhtakor will lock horns with Sharjah in a crucial AFC Champions League match on Tuesday.

Talking about the fatigue of the players due to tight fixtures, he said, “It is a very challenging job for us to keep the players ready for the match. And after the match we work on their recovery to keep them fresh for the next game.

“Ramadan is adding another dimension to it. I am sure all the four teams are living in a very special time. It is the beginning of the tournament.

“It is just two or three games now but after four or five matches it becomes very difficult to keep the players fit and fresh for the next game, when you have  a game every third day. It is very difficult to keep them motivated and mentally strong to play in the next match,” he rued.

All the tournament and matches were either postponed or cancelled due to pandemic last year. Asian Champions League also got under way to a delayed start and to make for the time lost due to pandemic matches have been crammed into a jam-packed calendar.

Huistra said he is wary of Sharjah, who are the team to beat in the competition. Sharjah are yet to lose any game. He also played down the favourites tag for advancing to the next stage of the continental championship.

“I don’t know who rated us as the favourites to advance to the round of 16 but I think Sharjah are at the advantage as they have four points and are at the top of their group. They are the team to beat if anyone wants to make it to the next round,” said Huistra.

Sharjah coach Abdulaziz Al Anbari predicted a tough match against Pakhtakor.

Sharjah are sitting at the top of their group with four points after a victory and a draw form their last two matches in the tournament.

“I have seen their two last matches on TV. They are a very strong team with very good players. I think it is going to be an interesting clash,” said Anbari.

Commenting on the preparation of the team, he said: “Preparations are going well. The team is ready and players are also ready. We hope to continue our performance of the last two matches in the next game.

“We should keep in mind that we had lost our main strikers even before the beginning of the tournament. In the last match we missed quite a few chances but that was a bad luck and the goalkeeper of the opponents also did fantastic job,” added Anbari.

A depleted Sharjah is battling the injuries woes. Some of their key players missed the first two games. Igor Cornado, Al Hasan Saleh and Welliton are injured. He also informed about the possible return of Saleh and Igor.

“Saleh has already started training with the team since yesterday. We are waiting for Igor to get a green signal. Hopefully he will also join the team in training either today or tomorrow.”