DUBAI // Al Ahli’s title defence has received a major blow, with their star Brazilian winger Ciel being ruled out of action for six months.
Ciel, who scored 11 goals in the league and five in the Arabian Gulf Cup for the champions last season, fractured his ankle in two places as he was wrestled down by Sharjah defender Shahin Abdulrahman in the 47th minute of their opening league match on Tuesday night.
Ciel, 32, was stretchered off immediately and taken to the Rashid Hospital in Dubai, where tests confirmed coach Cosmin Olaroiu’s worst fears.
“He has just got out of the operation room and we expect him to be out of action for about five to six months,” said Abdulmajeed Hussain, the Ahli team director. “Now we are forced to look for a replacement, but till now we have not thought about any player.”
Late on Tuesday night, Ahli announced they would bring their Portuguese veteran Hugo Viana back into the squad as a replacement for Ciel.
Viana has been training with the team through the summer and was part of Olaroiu’s squad at their pre-season camp, but he lost out to Romanian Mirel Radoi in the competition for the fourth foreign player spot.
Humam Tariq, the promising 18-year-old Iraqi, was an option, but the club went with the experienced Viana.
Considering Ciel’s performance last season and on Tuesday night in the opener, it is hard to imagine any replacement being able to replicate his impact in the side.
With Ahli taking on Al Shabab on Sunday, Viana will have to hit the ground running, especially since several important players are still recovering from injuries.
Grafite was injured during a friendly at the pre-season camp and started on the bench against Sharjah before coming on as a replacement for Ciel, while Majed Hassan and Basheer Saeed missed the game because of injuries.
arizvi@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE