Abu Dhabi: Victory was all that mattered for Mahdi Ali, the UAE coach, after his side flattered to deceive in beating Thailand 3-1 in their 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifier in Abu Dhabi on Thursday evening.
The UAE appeared set to seal a comfortable 2-0 victory after Ali Mabkhout capitalised on shoddy defending to net a brace in the 14th and 47th minutes at the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium.
But the Thailand substitute Tana Chanabut threatened to wreck the UAE’s World Cup dream after scoring in the 65th minute and then having another effort chalked off for offside in a nerve-shredding finish for the hosts.
Thankfully for Ali and his shell-shocked side, however, a substitute of their own, Ahmad Khalil, sealed victory in injury time with his 14th goal of the qualifying campaign to earn the Whites their second victory in Group B.
“The most important thing is we won the match and took three important points,” reflected Ali, whose side opened the third and final qualification round for Russia 2018 last month with a sensational 2-1 away win in Japan before losing 1-0 at home to Australia.
The UAE next face a seismic showdown with arch-rivals Saudi Arabia away next Tuesday and must not lose if they are to maintain realistic hopes of reaching their second World Cup.
Only the top-two finishers in Group B, and another Asian pool, Group A, are guaranteed to reach Russia 2018 and the UAE currently lie third.
Australia and the Saudis are first and second respectively, a point ahead after drawing 2-2 in Jeddah in Thursday’s late match.
Finishing third in Group B would not be fatal for the UAE either, given that they would play the equivalent side from Group A for a place in an inter-confederation play-off to determine who secures a spot at the World Cup.
But the Japanese, who have rebounded from their chastening defeat to the UAE with successive wins over Thailand and Iraq, also remain heavily in the mix in fourth place.
Ali was in no mood to dwell on potential future permutations on Thursday, however, and would also not be drawn on how his side could improve for the Saudi match.
“I think we should not hurry [in analysing] what happened today, because during a match it is difficult,” he said. “Usually there are so many emotions and you see things differently.
“When you look at the video one or two times, you see some things you did well and did not do well. So at this moment I cannot decide. We have to go back and see the match again.”
Ali admitted his side had not been clinical enough, with the Al Nasr striker Salem Saleh failing to impress in place of Khalil, who did not start after suffering unspecified “physical problems”.
“Sometimes in the final moments, we delayed in taking shots when in strong positions, or didn’t play the ball first time when we should have,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ali’s opposite number, Kiatisuk Senamuang, believes the UAE are strong contenders to qualify from Group B.
“The UAE are a very strong team, although in the second half they had some fitness problems,” said Kiatisuk, who praised his side’s endeavour despite their third consecutive defeat. “At first, everybody thought Japan and Australia would be the teams to go through to the World Cup, but the UAE showed they can be dark horses, together with Saudi Arabia.”
Given the fact that they are ranked 69 places below the UAE at 135 in the Fifa world rankings, the War Elephants had been expected to mount a concerted rearguard action — but instead took the game to their more illustrious opponents throughout.
The UAE’s superior class eventually told, though, Kiatisuk acknowledged.
“They are good technically and have a really good choice of substitutes, like Ahmad Khalil, who can be a game-changer.”
2018 FIFA WORLD CUP ASIAN QUALIFIERS
Group A
Teams P W D L GF GA GD PTS
IRAN 3 2 1 0 3 0 3 7
SOUTH KOREA 3 2 1 0 6 4 2 7
UZBEKISTAN 3 2 0 1 2 1 1 6
SYRIA 3 1 1 1 1 1 0 4
CHINA 3 0 1 2 2 4 -2 1
QATAR 3 0 0 3 2 6 -4 0
Group B
Teams P W D L GF GA GD PTS
AUSTRALIA 3 2 1 0 5 2 3 7
SAUDI ARABIA 3 2 1 0 5 3 2 7
UAE 3 2 0 1 5 3 2 6
JAPAN 3 2 0 1 5 3 2 6
IRAQ 3 0 0 3 2 6 -4 0
THAILAND 3 0 0 3 1 6 -5 0
