Sport | Football
Rashid blames stadium after Korea beat UAE
Former UAE goalkeeper Juma Rashid has accused the nation's Football Association for a lack of vision when choosing the venues for the World Cup qualifiers.
- By Alaric Gomes, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:39 September 10, 2008
- Former UAE goalkeeper Juma Rashid has accused the nation's Football Association for a lack of vision when choosing the venues for the World Cup qualifiers.
- Image Credit: Gulf News archive
Dubai: Former UAE goalkeeper Juma Rashid has accused the nation's Football Association for a lack of vision when choosing the venues for the World Cup qualifiers.
Rashid said the choice of the larger venues like Al Jazira Club stadium went against the UAE team as visiting players would feel more comfortable playing on bigger grounds.
He said: "The UAE Football Association should have considered the mental psyche and profile of our team before accepting home match venues.
"Our players are not used to bigger match venues, it affects them mentally, and I am saying this out of experience.
"On the other hand, all the other teams in our group like South Korea, North Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia are perfectly at comfort and ease playing in bigger stadiums.
"I feel the choice of the Al Jazira Club ground is the biggest mistake the UAE FA could have made," he added.
The UAE started their campaign in the final round of the World Cup qualifiers earlier this week with a 2-1 defeat by North Korea.
"What did the North Koreans do to win all three points? Both teams were affected by the weather conditions, but that should not be an excuse as we are playing at home," he said.
"What made all the difference in this match is the choice of the venue. They settled in quickly, made two moves upfront and scored from both and the issue was settled in their favour.
Mistakes made
"I do not want to go into the technical and tactical aspects of losing and the mistakes we made. But ultimately, it was we who helped them to go away with all three points by selecting Al Jazira," Rashid said.
The former goalkeeper said Al Ain, Sharjah or even a club in Dubai would have been a more suitable stadium.
"These are small stadiums and our players would have been more comfortable playing in these conditions," said Rashid.
"This is the second or third time that the UAE FA has made the same mistake. I would still urge the UAE FA to seek a change in the venue for the next two qualifiers against South Korea and Iran.
"We've made the mistake, but now should hope the team can take their first win against Saudi Arabia."
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