Riyadh: UAE coach Mahdi Ali has vowed to recover from the disappointment of a goalless draw with Oman in their Gulf Cup group opener at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium on Friday.

The defending champions had been expected to get the better of Oman ahead of two crunch games with record 10-times champions Kuwait and 2013 runners-up Iraq.

Esmail Al Hammadi had three chances to break the deadlock but was twice denied by Oman keeper Ali Al Habsi either side of a miss on an open goal from distance.

Both sides had penalty calls denied in the second half; Oman’s came when Khamis Esmail lunged at Abdul Aziz Al Muqbali in the box and the UAE’s followed soon after when Ahmad Khalil’s freekick appeared to come back off a defender’s arm.

Oman will have the biggest gripe, however, after having a goal harshly disallowed when Qasim Hardan’s header from Raed Saleh’s cross was ruled out for an apparent shove.

“We got several more opportunities than Oman but did not use them well,” said Ali. “We were expecting to do better as title holders, but we are still at the beginning of the journey and we have two group games remaining.

“We will strive to offer a better performance in the next match and we will seek to better exploit our chances.

“Our focus now is on the next leg with Kuwait and we’ll review this performance and try to remedy our deficiencies and seek to improve before the second game.”

Of the UAE’s call for a handball in the box, Ali added: “I don’t like to comment on the referee’s performance but from what I have seen off the pitch and from what my players have said, it was a clear penalty.”

Oman coach Paul Le Guen was as mystified by the denial of a penalty to his side, but admitted he was unsure about the disallowed goal.

“It’s a huge mistake and we have to be aware of that,” he said. “We have to get to the point where we have a good referee who gives a penalty when there is a foul in the box.

“I’m not 100 per cent sure about Qasim’s goal, because I haven’t seen the replay, but what I am sure about is the penalty. It’s a penalty 100 per cent. It’s a strange decision. I don’t know how to explain it because the referee was very close to the incident.

“We have to keep our chin up because there’s no shame in drawing against the defending champions, but I felt we were able to compete against them and I think we are on the right track back to consistency, I would have liked to have got that penalty because that would have proven that fact.”