Sport | Football
UAE's Metsu hits back at critics
The UAE's head coach, Bruno Metsu, has hit back at critics who accused him of selecting the wrong line-up and of making poor changes which led to his team losing 2-1 against North Korea in the opener of their campaign in the qualifiers of the 2010 World Cup on Saturday.
- By Yasir Abbasher, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:49 September 8, 2008
- Image Credit: Ahmed Kutty/Gulf News
- The UAE's Esmail Mattar (in white) and North Korea's Kwan Chon in action during the 2010 Fifa World Cup qualifying match against the UAE at the Al Jazeera stadium on Saturday night in Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi: The UAE's head coach, Bruno Metsu, has hit back at critics who accused him of selecting the wrong line-up and of making poor changes which led to his team losing 2-1 against North Korea in the opener of their campaign in the qualifiers of the 2010 World Cup on Saturday.
"I select the players who are most ready, both physically and psychologically, to implement my plan and those I believe are the best who have worked the hardest in training sessions and friendly matches. No player is selected because of past achievements.
"Past achievements help the players to join the squad but not to play in the matches. For example if the top league scorer failed to score in all the friendly matches of the team and other strikers did then it would be unfair not to select them for the matches," Metsu told Gulf News last night.
"No coach in the world selects the team which he believes will not win the match," he said.
Metsu said that the match between Saudi Arabia and Iran which ended in a 1-1 tie was good for his team.
"Now we again have a chance to enter the competition for the two seats in the finals. The result helped the players to be more optimistic following their depression after the defeat."
When asked if any changes were expected against Saudi Arabia tomorrow he said: "I am waiting to see the condition of midfielders Subait Khater and Hilal Saeed who both did not show their usual form and were exhausted and fatigued in the match against Korea which forced me to replace them."
The UAE played a friendly 50-minute match against Al Jaziar last night with Metsu giving a chance to players who had not played against the Koreans especially Majid Nasir, the first choice custodian, who was serving a one match suspension.
The match ended in a goalless tie.
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