Sharjah Primed for Asian Champion Challenge: No Surrender Against the Tigers

Al Sharjah's new coach Abdulmajid Al-Nimr is trying to calm worried fans after a crushing 4-1 defeat to Bani Yas. The team faces Asian Champions League holders Al-Ahli Saudi today, and Al-Nimr admits he's had just three days to turn things around since taking over.

Al-Nimr knows the timeline isn't ideal. You can't fix a struggling team overnight, especially when they're sitting 11th in the UAE league with just seven points. But he's asking fans to be patient while he tries to rebuild confidence and get the squad back on track.

"We had only two days after the Bani Yas match to prepare for Al-Ahli Saudi, the defending Asian Champions League winners," Al-Nimr told Emirates Today. "We won't give up. We're working to deliver a good performance and achieve a positive result."

The timing couldn't be worse. Several key players just returned from international duty with the UAE national team, having played nearly 100 minutes against Iraq just 48 hours before the Bani Yas disaster. Al-Nimr chose not to risk them, worried about injuries from fatigue.

Here's where things get tricky for Sharjah. They're not just struggling domestically - their Asian Champions League campaign has been rough too. They've played four matches, winning once against Qatar's Al-Gharafa, drawing with Al-Sadd, and losing to Iran's Tractor and Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad.

The psychological damage runs deep. Al-Nimr pointed out that the team has been dealing with poor results for months, creating a cycle that's hard to break. "The team has suffered from negative results for a long time," he said. "Even the psychological aspect needs time."

What makes this situation more complex is that Sharjah actually won the AFC Champions League 2 last season - essentially the second tier of Asian club football. Now they're competing at the elite level but clearly struggling to adapt.

The coaching change itself tells the story. Club management decided to switch coaches hoping for immediate improvement, but Al-Nimr is being realistic about expectations. "The past period was difficult for the team in the league and other competitions, especially in the Asian tournament, with instability and consecutive losses," he said.

For fans, this creates a difficult situation. They're watching their team struggle both at home and in Asia's premier club competition. The domestic league position is concerning enough, but losing to the continent's best teams while looking unprepared adds another layer of frustration.

Al-Nimr apologized to supporters for the Bani Yas performance but asked for patience. "We're working to correct things and reorganize the team," he said. The challenge now is whether three days of preparation can make any difference against Al-Ahli Saudi, who know how to win big matches.

The squad travels to Saudi Arabia today for tomorrow's match. It's a tough test for a new coach trying to restore confidence in a team that's been losing too often lately.