Sport | Football
Team capable of retaining title - Rashid
Esmail Rashid, the manager of the UAE team, told Gulf News yesterday that the players were in high spirits following their win over Yemen in the first game.
- By Yasir Abbasher, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:38 January 7, 2009
Muscat: Esmail Rashid, the manager of the UAE team, told Gulf News yesterday that the players were in high spirits following their win over Yemen in the first game.
"Fighting spirit, determination and confidence will all play a big role in deciding the result of the next match and I'm confident of our players' determination to win full points," Rashid said,
"Those players who are playing in the Gulf Cup for the first time will try to do even better in their next game against Qatar. It is not an easy match. Even our match against Yemen was not easy. In fact there is no such thing as an easy match until you win it.
"Our players know that they have come to Muscat to defend the title we had won two years ago and they are determined to achieve that goal. They are quite capable, judging by their discipline during training sessions and implementation of tactics in a match-situation," Rashid added.
Fahad Ali, the team's administrator, said: "We made some mistakes in the first match and the technical staff have been working to iron them out. I expect our team to play even better than in their first match."
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