Sport | Football
UAE's win against Vietnam fuels qualification dreams
It looks like an Eid Al Fitr gift! This is the common feeling among UAE football fans following their team's 1-0 victory over Vietnam on Monday night in the Asian qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.
- By Yasir Abbasher, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:50 October 9, 2007
- Image Credit:
- Bruno Metsu, the UAE head coach.
Abu Dhabi: It looks like an Eid Al Fitr gift! This is the common feeling among UAE football fans following their team's 1-0 victory over Vietnam on Monday night in the Asian qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.
The win not only helped the UAE side avenge their defeat to the same opponents in the finals of the Asian Cup, exactly three months ago, but also put the UAE back on track to repeat their 1990 feat when they had reached the finals of the World Cup in Italy.
It was the first away win for the UAE since August 16, 2006, when they beat Jordan 2-1 in Amman in the qualifiers of the Asian Cup.
Saeed shines
Despite the fact that the UAE missed the services of several key players, including their captain Abdul Rahim Jumaa, strikers Faisal Khalil and Saeed Al Kass, they still managed to score the only goal of the match via libero Basheer Saeed.
This in turn goes to show that the team have been able to build up viable alternative options for tricky situations such as the current one.
"We deserved to win," Bruno Metsu, the UAE head coach, said after the match in Hanoi.
"We have had a good and positive start to our campaign in the qualifiers, but that does not mean we have already reached the second round because we have to face the same team on October 28 at home," Metsu said.
'Doing the best'
"We will have to do our best again to secure promotion to the higher phases of the qualification competition," he added.
"Our task in the UAE will be very difficult," Alfred Riedl, the head coach of Vietnam, said.
"We played a good match, especially in the second half. But the UAE players were physically better than our team."
Saeed was the hero of the UAE side - not only because he scored the winning goal, but also because he saved a certain goal in the third minute of injury time when he cleared Le Cong's shot before crossing the goalline.
"At home, Vietnam are like Brazil. They play strong and spirited game and their fans are give them strong support. I'm happy that we won this match and that they will have to come to our country for the return leg. I believe that the goal I scored in this particular match is the most important goal for me so far," Saeed said.
The UAE players were rewarded Dh30,000 each as an incentive for the win by the UAE Football Association at the end of the match.
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