UAE have their task cut out

Dubai: The UAE have a mountain to climb after they went down 0-3 to Kyrgyzstan on the second day of the 2012 AFC Futsal Championship at the Al Wasl Club’s indoor hall late on Saturday.

Comfortable 3-1 winners against Turkmenistan on the opening day of Friday, the UAE will now have to defeat group leaders Thailand in Sunday’s final Group A match if they want to qualify for the knockout quarter-finals that commence on Tuesday.

After a goalless first half, it was Rustam Ermekov who struck the first goal for Kyrgyzstan within two minutes of the second half. The home side went all out for the equalizer, but were undone when Marat Duvanaev’s free kick was deflected into the goal with less than eight minutes remaining.

The UAE continued searching for a goal only to have Kanetov Emil make it 3-0 with less than four minutes remaining for the final hooter. And just when it looked as though the home side would never break through the stubborn Kyrgyzstan defence, Tariq Abdullah blasted in a left-footer to make it 3-1.

“We have to consider that this is the first time ever that the UAE is playing in the Asian competition,” UAE coach Padu told media after the match.

“There is really a big, big difference between our players and the rest of the teams here. The important thing now is to continue with the evolution of this team,” the Brazilian added.

Earlier in the day Australia, Iran, Japan and Thailand all secured their spots in the quarter-finals despite Sunday’s last day of preliminary matches still remaining.

Iran, who had thumped South Korea 14-1 on Friday night, asserted themselves for a record eleventh title in this continental competition, with an 8-0 win over Qatar, while Australia too powered their way into the last eight with a 6-0 romp over South Korea.

Japan had become the first team to enter the quarters earlier on Saturday with a 6-1 thrashing of Kyrgyzstan and second-ranked Thailand powered their way to a 4-1 win over Turkmenistan.