Wanderley ‘very confident’ of firing Al Nasr to AGL and continental success

Wanderley joined Al Nasr this summer after two prolific seasons for fellow Araban Gulf League club Sharjah. Victor Besa for The National

DUBAI // Al Nasr’s new signing Wanderley is confident he can provide the firepower to propel the club to domestic and continental glory next season.

The Brazilian striker, 27, moved from Sharjah last month to conclude one of the summer’s most protracted transfers, eventually signing a three-year deal at Al Maktoum Stadium.

Wanderley is viewed as the perfect spearhead to Nasr’s four-pronged bid for silverware, with the Dubai club contesting the upcoming Asian Champions League quarter-finals, the 2016/17 Arabian Gulf League, the Arabian Gulf Cup and the President’s Cup.

Ivan Jovanovic’s side begin their quest for trophies on August 24, when they travel to Doha for the first leg of their Champions League last-eight clash with El Jaish. Until this year, they had never progressed beyond the group stages of Asia’s premier club competition.

Wanderley, who scored 32 goals in 51 UAE top-flight matches for Sharjah, said he is relishing the challenge with Nasr, despite never before experiencing the Champions League.

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“I’m very confident about the Champions League,” Wanderley said. “Not just that I will do a good job, but confident we will do a good job as a team.

“In this championship, Nasr have overcome all obstacles. They’re proving they are better and I’m sure that, training as hard as we are, we can be very confident of doing a great job.”

That optimism now extends to the Arabian Gulf League, where Nasr ultimately disappointed last season by finishing fourth. They have not lifted the top-flight title since 1986 — something they have sought to redress with the addition of Wanderley, former Al Jazira playmaker Abdelaziz Barrada from Marseille, and Fawaz Awana, the midfielder from Baniyas.

Having captured the 2014 GCC Clubs Cup, and the 2015 Arabian Gulf Cup and President’s Cup during Jovanovic’s tenure, Wanderley said the league represents the natural next step at Nasr. They kick off their campaign at Al Dhafra on September 18.

“We can do a great job and, if God wants, by the end of the season we can be champion,” Wanderley said. “Al Nasr are coming closer and closer and have been winning cups. All this is part of the preparation to finish first in the league.

“We have a great group, great coach and great staff. I believe we’re contenders to be champions this year.”

Wanderley will be pleased to trade Sharjah’s recent troubles for Nasr. In his two years there, the five-time UAE champions battled relegation, with Wanderley scoring 15 goals last season to help the club eventually finish 11th.

The forward, who says he has been impressed by new coach Jovanovic, is relieved to be focusing on the other end of the table.

“I will be happier and feeling better to be playing to win,” he said. “Sharjah were a very good team, but were fighting relegation the last seasons.

“It will be very good for us to always be fighting at the top of the table. But I want to focus myself to do a great job, work hard and score as many goals as I want to help the team achieve our goals.

“My personal target is to beat my last tally. In the last seasons, I have always been bettering my previous amount. Every season, my results have been improving. Thank God, in the last seasons I always scored more than 20 goals.

“This season, my personal target is to be even better than last season. My target for the team is to be champion of the cup or league.”

Asked about his first few weeks at Nasr, Wanderley added: “I’m very happy to be here and in the way everybody has welcomed me. It’s unbelievable, from the chairman, to the staff and all the fans on social media, I’m very happy about it.

“Since I heard about Nasr’s interest, I started to ask some people about them. All I heard was good things, from the organisation, the club, facilities, everything. It made it easier for me to make this decision.”

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