{"id":2057,"date":"2025-12-31T17:26:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T13:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dfsc.ae\/?p=2057"},"modified":"2026-02-11T21:30:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T17:30:21","slug":"petrovic-urges-players-to-show-their-true-identity-against-khorfakkan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dfsc.ae\/en\/petrovic-urges-players-to-show-their-true-identity-against-khorfakkan\/","title":{"rendered":"Petrovi\u0107 Urges Players to Show Their True Identity Against Khorfakkan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Montenegrin coach \u017deljko Petrovi\u0107<\/strong>, head coach of Al Dhafra Club<\/strong>, stated that his team did not expect the defeat they suffered in their most recent match against Bani Yas<\/strong>, which was played at the latter\u2019s home ground, stressing that the result did not reflect the level of preparation that preceded the fixture.<\/p>\n

Petrovi\u0107 made the remarks during the pre-match press conference for Al Dhafra\u2019s upcoming clash against Khorfakkan<\/strong>, held on Wednesday<\/strong> at the media hall of Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan Stadium<\/strong> in Madinat Zayed, in the presence of defender Mohsen Al Rabja<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Al Dhafra coach explained that the loss had a relative impact on the team\u2019s position in the league table compared to their previous standing, despite full technical and physical readiness. However, he emphasized the need for the team to show strong character and be at peak readiness in the upcoming match, as they were at the start of the league campaign.<\/p>\n

Petrovi\u0107 noted that he has a strong group of players capable of securing a positive result, but acknowledged the absence of several key players, most notably striker Karim El Berkaoui<\/strong>, describing his absence as a major loss. He explained that during the first 30 minutes of the Bani Yas match, Al Dhafra created several chances and delivered dangerous crosses, but lacked the decisive finishing touch inside the penalty area due to El Berkaoui\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n

The coach also praised young forward Abdulrahman Al Sousi<\/strong>, describing him as a talented player who delivered a good performance and showed great effort. However, Petrovi\u0107 stressed that Al Sousi is still at an early stage of his career and needs more time to gain experience, as well as the benefit of playing alongside an experienced striker like El Berkaoui.<\/p>\n

Petrovi\u0107 also confirmed the return of Mohsen Al Rabja<\/strong> to the squad, expressing his satisfaction with the current group of players and stressing that the team will continue its journey with the same spirit and determination.<\/p>\n

Al Rabja: We Need the Support of Al Dhafra Fans<\/h3>\n

For his part, Mohsen Al Rabja<\/strong>, who returns after suspension, said that Al Dhafra is a strong team with experienced players capable of correcting the team\u2019s course and getting back on track, despite the difficulty of the upcoming match against Khorfakkan.<\/p>\n

He called on Al Dhafra supporters to stand behind the team and support them in this match and the upcoming fixtures, stressing that fan support provides a major motivational boost for the players on the pitch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Montenegrin coach \u017deljko Petrovi\u0107, head coach of Al Dhafra Club, stated that his team did not expect the defeat they suffered in their most recent match against Bani Yas, which was played at the latter\u2019s home ground, stressing that the result did not reflect the level of preparation that preceded the fixture. Petrovi\u0107 made the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dfsc.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dfsc.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dfsc.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dfsc.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dfsc.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2057"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dfsc.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2058,"href":"https:\/\/dfsc.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2057\/revisions\/2058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dfsc.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dfsc.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dfsc.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dfsc.ae\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}