Olaroiu targets AFC Champions League Two with Sharjah as Singapore’s Lion City Sailors stand in the way

AUSTRALIA: Cosmin Olaroiu has just about won it all during his time as a manager, with success following the Romanian in stints in China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and, of course, the UAE.

It is in the Emirates that he has spent the bulk of his coaching career, and had most of his success, working at Shabab Al-Ahli, Al-Ain and, most recently, at Sharjah; winning four league titles, two President’s Cups, three League Cups and five Super Cups along the way.

Add those to league titles in Saudi Arabia with Al-Hilal, and China with Jiangsu Suning, and a Qatar Stars Cup with Al-Sadd, and the 55-year-old Bucharest native is one of the most decorated coaches in the history of club football in Asia.

But one thing has eluded the burly Romanian across his almost two decades coaching in Asia — continental silverware. That could finally change against Singapore’s Lion City Sailors on Sunday night.

Olaroiu took Al-Ahli, as Shabab Al-Ahli were then known, to the final of the AFC Champions League in 2015, but came up just short against the now defunct Chinese heavyweights Guangzhou Evergrande, losing 1-0 across the two-legged affair.

Having exacted a modicum of revenge by dethroning Guangzhou when he was coach of Jiangsu Suning, winning the club their first ever league title in 2020, he never got the chance to compete for continental honours after the club went bust just weeks after their title success, as the bubble burst in the Chinese football boom.

But on Sunday night in Singapore, as he prepares to bring his time in club football to a close, having taken on the role of national team coach for the UAE, he has the chance to finally complete the set and add a continental title to his decorated CV.

While it may “only” be the AFC