UAE a point away from realising Olympic dream

Abu Dhabi The UAE are a single point away from realising their dream of appearing in the London Olympics after beating Australia 1-0 at Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium last night to top Group B of the Asian qualifiers.

Omar Abdul Rahman, back from a long injury lay-off, scored the all-important goal in the 22nd minute. The UAE now only need a draw or better away to Uzbekistan next month to secure the nation's Olympic debut. The build-up to the decisive goal started with a fierce free-kick from Ahmad Khalil which stung the hands of Aussie goalkeeper Mathew Ryan, although Habib Al Fardan's follow-up was deflected out for a corner.

One-two

Abdul Rahman played a one-two with Rashid Eisa from the flag kick and hit a strong left-footed shot that swept underneath Ryan at his near post. The match was open, with both teams always on the attack, the Australians needing to win if they were to stay in the running for qualification.

Ahmad Ali, Khalil, Al Fardan and Eisa all missed sitters, while keeper Khalid Eisa was kept busy by the Australians.

Their best chances fell to Aaron Mooy, a professional with St Mirren in Scotland, and Oliver Bozanic, whose shot was deflected onto the bar in the 38th minute. The UAE could have gone two up in the 68th minute, but substitute Haboosh Saleh shaved the upright with his shot shortly after replacing Rashid Eisa.

The Australians' frustrations boiled over and they resorted to foul play in the final minutes as an equaliser became more and more unlikely. As a result, referee Lee Min-hu showed yellow cards to three Australian players. The UAE were also boosted by Iraq's surprise 2-1 win over closest challengers Uzbekistan in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday.

Standings

Team P W D L GF GA Pts

UAE 5 3 2 0 5 0 11Uzbekistan 5 2 2 1 5 2 8Iraq 5 1 1 3 2 7 4 Australia 5 0 3 2 0 3 3

Results

Iraq 2 Uzbekistan 1UAE 1 Australia 0

Fixtures (March 14)

Uzbekistan v UAE; Australia v Iraq