Sport | Football

UAE fight back to get the better of Stuttgart

The UAE defeated VFB Stuttgart 2-1 in their first match of the Dubai Challenge Cup 2007 held at Al Nasr's Al Maktoum stadium on Monday night.

  • By Sayed Ali, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:00 January 9, 2007
  • Gulf News

  • Image Credit: Tracy Brand/Gulf News
  • Action during the match between UAE (in white) and Stuttgart in the Dubai Challenge Cup football tournament at the Al Nasr football stadium.
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Dubai: The UAE defeated VFB Stuttgart 2-1 in their first match of the Dubai Challenge Cup 2007 held at Al Nasr's Al Maktoum stadium on Monday night.

The UAE came from behind after Stuttgart led 1-0 to bag their first three points by beating Bundesliga club. Victory gave their coach Bruno Metsu and the UAE supporters confidence ahead of the Gulf Cup which kicks off in a weeks time.

Mario Gomez scored for Stuttgart in the 56th minute following a goalless first half. UAE skipper Mohammad Omar levelled with a fine header in the 59th minute and Esmail Mattar hit the winner with a powerful shot in the 70th.

In the first match of the tournament, Hamburg SV defeated Iran 2-1 to share top spot with the UAE.

With the win, the German club were able to forget their disappointing results in the Bundesliga -where they are second from bottom.

The Iranians were supported by a huge crowd who backed their national team until the final whistle.

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"I am happy with my young team's performance despite the defeat. We benefited from playing against such a strong team," said Iran coach Amir Ghalenoi.

He said the referee made a mistake by not awarding his team a blatant penalty kick. Hamburg were dangerous in the first 20 minutes with strikers Abu Bakr Sanogo and Paolo Guerrero coming close.

Sanogo, who played for three seasons with Al Ain before he left to Germany, wasted a good scoring chance when he was put through in a one to one situation with only the keeper to beat, but he shot straight at the keeper.

The first Iranian attempt came after 22 minutes when Hussain Qaabi's blast sailed over the bar.

An error by the Iranian goalkeeper in 30th minute resulted in Hamburg's first goal when Vahid Talebloo came out of his area to give Paolo Guerrero a chance to head into an empty net.

Rasoul Khatibi levelled by heading in from Eman Mobali's free kick.

The Germans scored the winner when substitute Berisha Besart broke through the Iranian defence with a one - two pass, and his powerful shot went past the helpless Talebloo.

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