UAE: Al Shabab's Toninho Cerezo Defends Brazilian Boys

The Shabab boss has been forced to defend his foreign contingent.

Apr 28, 2009 1:24:05 AM

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Al Shabab, the reigning UAE champions, have struggled this season and are currently languishing in mid-table.

After the successful 2008 campaign, Brazilian boss Toninho Cerezo let Iranian star Iman Mobali and Jawad Kazemian go.

In came aging compatriots Marcos Assunaco and Carlos Renato.

The pair have found it tough to win over a sceptical public and press and were both criticised for their performance in last weeks 4-1 defeat at the hands of Ittifaq in the Asian Champions League.

But Cerezo has backed his fellow countrymen.

“Renato played 21 games for Nasr and scored 10 goals,” he said, according to The National.

“Assuncao won the President’s Cup with Ahli. So you cannot say they were failures at their previous clubs.

“Sometimes you plan things, but unfortunately they don’t turn out the way you want them to. If we look at the way the team are playing, I don’t think we made such a bad choice.

"We have played really well in some games, but haven’t got the right results.”