Sport | Football
UAE face traditional rivals Oman in Gulf Cup derby
The UAE face defending champions Oman in their second match in the 20th Gulf Cup in Yemen
- By Yasir Abbasher, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:01 November 26, 2010
- Image Credit: Reuters
- Iraq’s Nashat Akram (top) vies with UAE’s Subait Khater during the Gulf Cup match in Aden on Tuesday.
Abu Dhabi: The UAE face defending champions Oman in their second match on Friday night in the 20th Gulf Cup in Yemen with the winners almost certain of securing their berth in the semi-final of the tournament. Bahrain and Iraq will compete in the second match of the night.
All the teams in the group have a single point each following draws — Bahrain and Oman drew 1-1 and the UAE and Iraq were tied 0-0.
Historically, UAE and Oman matches in the early years of the tournament were games to decide the bottom team of the tournament. There is, therefore, a strong rivalry between the neighbours that continues to this day flavoured by the fact that the UAE and Oman are the champions of the last two editions of the regional tournament.
While Oman have fielded the same team that won the title two years ago at home, the UAE arrive with a second-string team because of the absence of a number of influential players of the Olympic Team and Al Wahda club.
Injury list
Srecko Katanec, the head coach of the UAE, is expected to start with the same line-up that featured in the first match against Iraq with Majid Nasser in the goal. Yousuf Jaber, Waleed Abbas — if he has recovered from a pulled muscle — Fahad Fraish and Khalid Sabeel in defence. Subait Khater, Amer Mubarak, Ali Al Waheebi and either Maher Jasem or Mohammad Abdul Rahman in midfield, and Ali Mabkhoot and Saeed Al Kass in attack. Claude Le Roy, the head coach of Oman, has no injury problems to grapple with and will start with nearly the same line-up that drew with Bahrain. Defender Mohammad Al Shaibah has been suspended for one match after being sent off during the Bahrain encounter.
Serious attempt
Srecko Katanec, the Slovenian head coach of the UAE, said that his team had not arrived in Yemen to enjoy watching other teams play and insisted they were there to win matches.
Katanec has asked his players to enjoy their football, bearing in mind that the team is missing a number of players. The squad includes 15 young players taking part in their first ever Gulf Cup.
"We came to help in achieving success to the championship but after our first performance against Iraq, who are the reigning Asian Champions, I believe that the players started thinking about winning matches. They are capable of doing that because all the teams in the second group are of almost equal standard and each have a chance to reach the semi-final.
"The players realise that and they go into each match just to prove they are better and stronger than their opponents. I believe that my team will do better than their match against Iraq because the first matches are always difficult when you have a number of young inexperienced players."
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