ABU DHABI // Mohammed Thani al Rumaithi, the president of Al Jazira's board of directors, says the club are going to replace all their foreign players for the next season, with the exception of Tony, their Ivorian striker. "We have evaluated the contributions of our foreign players and have decided to replace all of them except Tony," said al Rumaithi. "We invested heavily on them and are a bit disappointed they haven't delivered. Now we are looking ahead for the next season."
Jazira spent a record Dh85 million in the summer on Ricardo Oliveira, the former AC Milan, Real Zaragoza and Real Betis forward to add to their shopping spree of the previous year, when they splashed out Dh62m Rafael Sobis, also from the Primera Liga side Betis, who was the previous record Pro League signing. The Abu Dhabi club also extended gave Marcio Rozario, the Brazilian central defender, a new one-year deal at the start of the season. Michael Beauchamp, the Australian international defender, completed the club's "three plus one" foreign quota as the club's one player of Asian origin.
Oliveira missed the entire second half of the season after picking up a knee injury, and Sobis, who suffered a knee ligament injury in the latter part of last season, was absent for the first half of the campaign. "Apart from the injuries, they haven't made any worthwhile contributions," added al Rumaithi. "We understand injuries to the players but they had enough time to prove us with some decent performances. And they didn't."
Abel Braga, the club's Brazilian coach, who has a contract up to June 2011, is set to keep his job while reports suggest, the club are keen to sign Bare, the Brazilian striker, who has spent the past two seasons at Al Ahli of Dubai. apassela@thenational.ae
