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Team UAE face moment of truth
UAE will need a miracle to reach the knockout stage of the AFC Asian Cup as the Whites lock horns against Group D front runners Iran at the Qatar Sports Club Stadium on Wednesday.
The match will kick off at 8.15pm UAE time simultaneously with the group’s other clash featuring North Korea and defending champions Iraq.
Iran hold the upper hand over UAE in the AFC Asian Cup Finals after winning one out of two encounters. One match ended in a draw. Iran first faced UAE in the 1984 Singapore edition in which they won 3-0. Four years later in Qatar it was the same story as they won 1-0. In 1992, UAE managed to hold their rivals to a goalless draw in the group stage.
There will be all to play for when Iraq and DPR Korea clash for the first time ever in the AFC Asian Cup on Wednesday at the Al Rayyan Stadium. The two have never played before but have met six times on the international stage. The honours have been even with both teams winning three apiece.
Iran show the way with six points from two victories over North Korea and Iraq which put them already in the quarter-finals of the competition. But UAE face a must win clash to raise their tally to four points and look forward for the Koreans to do them a favour in order to secure a berth in the last eight on goals difference.
However, the UAE coach Srecko Katanec is hopeful that something special could still happen for his team.
“We have a very tough job ahead,” said the Slovenian manager during a pre-match Press conference at Qatar Stadium on Tuesday. “The team is facing few problems due to the injury or sickness of some of its players, but the boys in white would be ready for the challenge,” he said.
Katanec spoke emotionally about his younger striker Ahmed Khalil who did not show the best of him during the tournament and urged the media not to put too much pressure on the player.
“He’s still young and there’s more to come from him. He represents the future of the country’s football and we must preserve him. He played with the Youth, Olympic national teams before reuniting with the senior national team in just three months. We must take care of him,” he said.
Speaking about the game, Katanec said they know very well what they should do. “I don’t care whether they are going to the field with the first or second eleven. All I know is that every team has brought the best 23 players in the country. I do respect our opponents who have claimed full points. It’s a very tough task ahead and I hope the players will make every move to do well,” he said.
The same opinion was echoed by the country’s keeper Majid Nasser who believes that luck was not on their side in the first two games.
“We did not take our chances in the first two games. We have the best strikers including Ahmed Khalil, a winner of the best upcoming player in Asia. I hope we will be able to score against Iran,” he said.
However, Nasser was satisfied with the way they played in the previous two games and hoped that they would be able to delight their fans and storm into the knockout stage.
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