Defence co-ordination for Pro League champions Jazira

Al Jazira had been knocking on the door for most of a decade. Last season, they kicked it down. Follow here for The National's complete guide to the clubs, the new stars and the issues ahead of the new Pro League season. Since rocking the football world by joining Al Wasl, Maradona has embraced life in Dubai and has enriched the league and the lives of many. Familiar faces and big names grace the stage. Read article Now the world will be watching as the curtain rises on a new era. Read article Survival is name of the game. Read article Pro League team by team guide. Read article After three consecutive seasons as runners-up in the UAE's top flight, the Abu Dhabi club dominated the 2010/11 season. The perennial bridesmaids led from wire to wire and clinched their first Pro League title with three games in hand. They nearly achieved the first unbeaten season in UAE history; Jazira suffered their first and only defeat in Round 21, a 4-1 loss away to Al Ain, two weeks after they had clinched the crown. But they ended the season on a high, drubbing Dubai 4-2 in the season-ending match at which they staged a celebration worthy of a 37-year wait for a title. Musical groups performed before and after the match, fireworks lit up the sky and a Ferrari Italia 458, valued at Dh1 million, was awarded to a fan who won a skills contest. The club also captured the President's Cup for the first time, notching only the second double of the nation's top trophies since 1990. (Al Wasl did it in 2007.) Jazira's 2010/11 tour de force makes for glittering history, but on the eve of the new league season, the question for the champions is this: Can they do it again? Ibrahim Diaky, the captain, answers in the affirmative. "We are the team to beat and the challenge for us is to top what we achieved last season, and I think we can do that," he said. "Why not? "Al Jazira are a great club and we have great players who will work for their teammates and are all ready to do their best again. Last season was magnificent, and we want to achieve more. We waited so long to win the league, and we want to do it again." No club have been league champions twice in a row since Al Ain, in 2003/04, but Jazira have much in their favour. All of the key players return, and they are reinforced by the acquisition of the veteran central defender Lucas Neill, the Australian signed under the league's new "Asian expatriate" rule. No side in the country matches Jazira's blend of Emirati and expatriate talent. They have formidable Brazilian forwards in Ricardo Oliveira and Bare, and a box-to-box midfield force in the Argentine Matias Delgado. But they also line up several of the top footballers holding UAE passports, including the goalkeeper Ali Kasheif, the defenders Abdullah Mousa and Khalid Sabeel and the midfielders Subait Khater and Diaky. All but Diaky, who is ineligible, have played for the national team. The big change at Jazira is in the dugout. Franky Vercauteren, the Belgian, follows the Brazilian coach Abel Braga, who put in three full seasons at Jazira, a term almost unheard of in the UAE. Jazira lost only four of 66 matches while Braga was in charge, leaving scant space for improvement. The champions will contend with what looks like a stronger and more balanced league. Baniyas were runners-up last season and have added David Trezeguet. "We have improved, and we will be ready for the league," said Jorvan Vieira, their Brazilian coach. Al Nasr field most of the team who finished strongly under the Italian Walter Zenga to snag third position and secure their first Asian Champions League berth. "I want to see us improve: at least second, maybe even first," said Khalid Obaid, the team manager. "Is it possible for us to be champions? Well, we trust our players. I have even more confidence in them than I did last season. They will be even better this season." Al Shabab likewise boast a starting XI nearly identical to last season, when they were fourth. The one notable change is for the better, the addition of the Uzbek midfielder Azizbek Haydarov. Two other Dubai clubs made headlines with aggressive moves in the close season and have their eyes on a championship. Al Wasl hired Diego Maradona as their coach, and he has proven that he is not just a famous face, hand-picking two strong South American players in Mariano Donda and Juan Manuel Olivera and shaping an attack-first side. Al Ahli brought back Ivan Hasek, architect of their 2009 championship, and added Grafite, Jakson Coehlo and Luis Jimenez at the attacking end. Al Wahda will have thoughts of a championship, as will Al Ain, who have undergone a massive makeover and could rival Jazira for the most explosive attack in the league, with Asamoah Gyan, Yasser Al Qahtani, Ignacio Scocco and Omar Abdulrahman. Sharjah are a proud outfit, Ajman looks a feisty newcomer and Emirates won the President's Cup in 2010. Diaky, Jazira's confident captain, concedes another championship will not come easily. "There are a lot of good teams in the UAE, with lots of famous players, and they will be desperate to beat us," he said. "So, for me, this will be more difficult this season for us to win the league, but we are going to give our best." Follow The National Sport on & Paul Oberjuerge on

Defence co-ordination for Pro League champions Jazira

Diaky insists the Pro League champions are "the team to beat", but rivals are ready to put up a fight.