Abu Dhabi: UAE’s Road to Russia maybe in shambles but they will be leaving no stone unturned to stay afloat on the slimmest of hope when they take on the formidable Saudi Arabia in the Group B fixture at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium. The action starts on Tuesday at 8.30pm.
Ali Mabkhout’s late equaliser in the draw in Bangkok against Thailand has kept the fourth-placed UAE’s mathematical qualification possibility for the 2018 World Cup alive. The UAE will not only have to win against Saudi but will also have to beat Iraq to get all the permutation and combination into picture.
The task is also cut out with the star medio Omar Abdul Rahman ‘Amoory’ suffering from back spasm and defender Ismail Ahmad also nursing an injury.
“Only if Amoory is 100 per cent fit he will be on the field. We want fully fit players to be there for this crucial clash. What we are looking is to get every point possible and our target is to win this match,” said UAE coach Edgardo Bauza, who felt that the opponents have an edge as their players come into the contest having played some competitive matches in their local league.
“The only negative thing is that we didn’t play any official match while Saudi players have played in the league matches. Only national players from the Al Ain Club come into the contest with a competitive match in the AFC Champions League. But you can be assured we will give everything to script a positive result,” added Bauza.
The ‘Green Falcons’ Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, despite suffering a loss at the hands of Australia in the last outing are still sitting pretty on second spot after Group B leaders Japan drew with Iraq.
A win here against the UAE will certainly enhance their chances of a return to the Fifa World Cup finals for the first time since 2006. They will be meeting Japan, who would travel to Jeddah next week.
“The match against the Emirates will be tough because they have a chance and they will go for a chance. They will be frantic in the beginning and we are prepared for it,” said Saudi’s Dutch coach Bert Van Marwijk, who went on to add that the team was now looking at finer details to gain more advantage over their opponents.
“Now we are focusing more towards the strength and weakness of the opponents and always looking to improve with every game. We don’t have any problem with pressure. When you want to reach top level then you need pressure and should know to handle pressure as well. We have to win this first game first and then think of the next match against Japan,” added van Marwijk, whose team also has injury worries.
“Defender Mohammad Al Breik is down with an injury. He has a problem with his ankle but I think he will be fit for the match tomorrow,” said van Marwijk, who asserted that his team will stick to the same plan even if UAE key player Amoory doesn’t take the field.
“We play the same way against all the teams. It doesn’t matter if Amoory is playing or not. We are going to play the way we do and are prepared for any challenge. Our players may have played few matches in the national league but we have to concentrate more. We have a chance to qualify directly and we had a 75 per cent chance before we played against Australia. However, now we have to work very very hard,” added van Marwijk.
