Abu Dhabi: Mohammad Khalfan Al Rumaithi, the Chairman of the UAE FA, has sprung to the defence of UAE coach Srecko Katanec and blamed the players for their 3-2 loss against Kuwait in their opening Asian qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup.
"I blame the players, they let us down." Al Rumaithi said after the match at the Thanoon Bin Mohammad Stadium in Al Ain.
"They committed many basic mistakes in all department of play and most of their passes were wrong.
"I am disappointed with the performance of the team because the players have more to show than what they did in the match. They panicked and did not give all their focus to the game."
Al Rumaithi was aboard the plane that flew the national team to Beirut on Saturday where they will face Lebanon in their second match on Tuesday, September 6. The Lebanese team lost in 6-0 to South Korea in Seoul on Friday.
The Koreans lead Group B on a goal difference from Kuwait after both teams collected three points from their matches.
Two battling late goals within five minutes by Esmail Al Hammadi and Ahmad Khalil could not save the UAE whose hopes of reaching their second World Cup finals have suffered a severe setback with this result.
Prior to the match Kuwaiti coach Goran Tufegdzic described the ‘left side of the UAE defence as the weakest point in the team.' in local newspapers.
And his team capitalised on that chink as all three goals came from the left by libero Waleed Abbass and left full-back Yousuf Jaber. The irony is that while Goran knows the weaknesses in the UAE team, it appears that the technical staff of the UAE do not.
No defence
Katanec was blamed by many analysts and experts after the match for failing to create a defence organisation, especially after the team was forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against India in the second leg of the preliminary round in which the Indians scored twice within ten minutes. That was more than a month ago, which means the team have had time to iron out the flaws.
Also he was blamed for applying an almost defensive strategy with only one striker, Ahmad Khalil, and not selecting good strikers such as Ali Mabkhoot and Ahmad Ali, who both play for the country's Olympic Team.
The team have to win at home to keep their hopes alive of reaching the last stage of the qualifiers.
Katanec brought in Salem Saleh, the second striker only after the Kuwaitis scored their second goal.
Great ball control
And while the UAE players failed to show any individual capabilities in penetrating their opponents defence lines, Fahad Al Enazy and Badr Al Mutawa, Kuwait's midfielders, showed great ball control abilities and created in-roads in the home team back line.
The UAE defence was vulnerable and Majid Nasir, the custodian goalkeeper, played a big role in saving his team's net from more goals and a humiliating result.
It is time that Katanec should find solutions by bringing in new defenders and apply a new defensive organisation.
Yes, there is still a chance, but judging by the performance of the team in the first match, it will be a very slim chance bearing in mind the tactical mistakes and the low morale of the team after losing to Kuwait for the first time in nine matches.
