UAE face big hurdle in Lebanon

Abu Dhabi: The UAE face Lebanon at 6pm today in a must-win encounter in the Asian qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup as both teams lost their opening Group B matches last Friday against Kuwait and South Korea.

The UAE, the favourites to win the match, have committed a lot of tactical and individual mistakes in the match against Kuwait and their head coach Srecko Katanec is expected to have found solutions before today's match specially in the absence of Hamdan Al Kamali, the sweeper, who broke his cheekbone and has undergone surgery which will keep him out of the match.

The biggest problem of the team was on the left side of its defence where Yousuf Jaber and Waleed Abbass operate. The three Kuwaiti goals came from that direction.

Defensive alignment

In the absence of injured Abdulla Mousa, Katanec has no other replacement for Jaber. The UAE coach now has to find a defensive alignment that will help the left side keep the opponents at bay.

The other problem was the slowness in building attacking moves and end up squandering these chances. The midfielders, especially Mohammad Al Shehhi, Esmail Al Hammadi and Ali Al Waheebi, should play a more attacking role than just create chances as the Lebanese are expected to play a defensive game.

Lebanon lost to the UAE 6-2 in a friendly last month and have also lost to South Korea on Friday 6-0.

Katanec is expected to field: Majid Nasir in goal. Khalid Sabeel, Faris Juma, Waleed Abbas and Yousuf Jaber on defence. Subait Khater, Amer Abdul Rahman, Ali Al Waheebi, Mohammad Al Shehi and Esmail Al Hammadi in midfield and Ahmad Khalil in attack.

"We committed a lot of mistakes in the first match and we have to learn from that experience." Al Kamali said yesterday. "We are capable of beating Lebanon, but we have to return to our usual form and we have to play with respect to our opponents and forget that we defeated them 6-2 last month."

Al Kamali scored a goal in that match from the penalty spot. The match will be a turning point for Katanec whose future with the team is in doubt after the defeat by Kuwait.

The UAE FA Technical Committee, which is in charge of the national teams, will meet on Thursday in Dubai and decide Katanec's future.

Among those considered to replace the Slovenian is Fluminense Football Club boss Abel Braga.