Al Bataeh returned from Dubai with a draw in the match against Al Nasr at Al Maktoum Stadium in the first leg of the first round of the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Cup. The elite team was able to impose a goalless draw on the Dean before the anticipated confrontation in the second leg. Al Bataeh entered the match in the absence of its most prominent players, Anatoli, Mohammed Jumaa, Pele, Maliki and Denny Borges. After the match and during the press conference, the team coach Farhad Majidi said that the match was good and one of the best matches we played in the absence of the four most important players, but the substitutes performed well and we were great at the organizational level. Al Nasr controlled the match, but we did not give them chances to score. Al Nasr shot 2 and we shot 3. I believe we can come out with a positive result in the second leg. It is noteworthy that the UAE Pro League awarded the team player Rashid Muhair the best player of the match award.

Al Bataeh finished its training in preparation for meeting Al Nasr in the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Cup, which will be held at Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai at 5:55 in the first leg of the first round. The team’s coach, Farhad Majidi, led the training, which was held at Al Bataeh Club Stadium, in the absence of some players, some of whom were injured and others were due to joining the national team. Al Bataeh seeks to return from Dubai with a positive result before the second leg.

“Based on last week’s training, we had good training and fortunately the team is coming off a league win and we are in a good position. We will play against Al Nasr, who are playing well in the league. We will give the opportunity to the players who have played fewer minutes and we will try to control the match to stop Al Nasr’s strengths to pass this stage,” said our coach Farhad Majidi in the press conference introducing his team’s match against Al Nasr in the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Cup. “Our preparations for the match have been good over the past few days and our morale is high, especially after the last league win. We will go into the match with the aim of continuing the victories. We know the Al Nasr team has great potential and in return we have confidence in ourselves and in the available elements in the team. On a collective level, the team is trying to do its best and on a personal level I am trying to do my best to serve the team and give everything I have.”

Al Bataeh achieved an important victory over its guest, Khorfakkan, 2-1, at Khalid bin Mohammed Stadium, on Sunday, in the second round of the ADNOC Professional League. This is considered the first victory for Al Bataeh this season after losing to Al Ain in the first round. Khorfakkan also suffered its first defeat after winning over Al Jazira 3-2. Khorfakkan took the lead through Ailton Felipe with a pass from his teammate Saeed Mohammed in the 42nd minute, but the final minutes of the first half witnessed Al Bataeh’s equalizer for Al Bataeh 1-1 through Ulrich Sedwin after a corner kick from Uzbek Aziz Ganiev. Al Bataeh succeeded in scoring the winning goal through Gianluca Muniz, taking advantage of a pass from the brilliant Aziz (62). Al Bataeh completed the match from the 76th minute with 10 players after Sedwin Maliki was injured. Farhad Majidi had used up his 5 substitutions. Majidi said that this was not due to mismanagement by the technical staff, but I left a change for such cases and was surprised by Abdulaziz Heikal’s request for the change.

Al Bataeh Club announced the signing of the Italian midfielder Daniel Bessa. Bessa (32) is considered one of the distinguished players who previously played for Inter, Hellas Verona and Genoa in Italy and Kalba in the Emirates. The signing was attended by Jassim Al Doukhi, member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Technical Committee, Dr. Imad Mukhtar, Executive Director, and Abdulaziz Al Mazmi, Supervisor of the First Team and Member of the Technical Committee.

Al Bataeh coach Farhad Majidi said in the press conference in advance of his team’s match against Khorfakkan in the second round of the ADNOC Professional League: “First, I would like to talk about the previous match and thank the players for the strong performance. If we had played more intelligently, we would have returned from Al Ain with the points. We trained well during the week. Khorfakkan is a good team with good players, and we will put in place the appropriate plan for the match to come out with the three points.” Meanwhile, first team player Marwan Al Watani said: “Our preparations were good and positive, and we will face a good team with high-level players, but we are ready for this match to come out with a positive performance and result. All the players work as one team, and we are optimistic about going far in the league. Our league is becoming more difficult every season due to the presence of a large number of stars. My goal is to serve the team and provide the highest levels to achieve the dream of reaching the UAE national team.”

Al Bataeh lost their first match in the ADNOC Professional League to Al Ain, two goals to one, in the match that was held at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain. Al Bataeh entered the match in the absence of their coach, Farhad Majidi, due to suspension, and Alvaro and Mohammed Juma Pele due to injury. Al Bataeh will face Khorfakkan in the second match of the league on August 24 at Khalid bin Mohammed Stadium in Sharjah. Following the match, Saleh Mustafawi, Al Bataeh’s assistant coach, who led the team today instead of the team’s coach, Farhad Majidi, said during the press conference following the Al Bataeh match against Al Ain, which ended with Al Ain winning two goals to one, saying, “I would like to thank the players for the great effort they made today, in which Al Bataeh was able to be a strong competitor to Al Ain in their home stadium, as the team was able to keep the ball for long periods of the match and prevent Al Ain from creating opportunities, as Al Ain scored the two winning goals from an individual mistake from a set piece and a corner kick. On behalf of the team’s coach, I thank them for this performance.” Saleh stated that the team entered the match in the absence of two key players and the team’s ranks were not complete with foreign players. There is no doubt that the team needs reinforcement.