Abu Dhabi: Ali Mabkhout is confident he can fire the UAE to victory against Saudi Arabia in Jeddah on Tuesday evening as he harbours hopes of showcasing his skills on the global stage.
The Al Jazira striker was delighted to break his seventh-month goal drought for his country with a brace in last Thursday’s 3-1 home win over Thailand.
And the Whites will need Mabkhout to be at his prolific best if they are to overcome their nemesis and keep alive their hopes of qualifying for their second World Cup.
The UAE are third in Group B in the final Asian qualification round for Russia 2018, a point behind the second-place Saudis, with only the top-two countries guaranteed to qualify for the World Cup.
“A striker must be confident and patient at the same time,” said Mabkhout, who had last scored in the 6-1 drubbing of Bangladesh in March and who has notched a remarkable 28 goals in 29 games for his country. “He needs to know that the goals will eventually come and boost his confidence. I’m hoping to score again in the next few games; I really believe in myself.”
The 26-year-old first had a taste of a major tournament with his country when he appeared at the 2009 Under-20 World Cup in Egypt.
“Taking part in a World Cup is every player’s dream,” Mabkhout added in an interview with Fifa.com. “Some of us played at the U-20 World Cup together — the atmosphere there was incredible. I can just imagine what it must be like at the senior World Cup. All of the players in the team dream of pulling on the Emirati jersey there.”
But he and his teammates face an almighty task to beat the Saudis, who held the Group B leaders and current Asian champions Australia to a 2-2 draw in Jeddah last Thursday.
The UAE have never beaten the Green Falcons on their home turf and have only triumphed five times in 34 meetings with their rivals, the last time being a 1-0 victory in the 2007 Gulf Cup.
In the previous qualification round for Russia 2018, the two countries were also in the same group and the UAE lost 2-1 to a last-minute penalty last October and then drew 1-1 with Bert van Marwijk’s side in Abu Dhabi in March.
And in Van Marwijk, the Saudis have a main who has the experience of reaching a World Cup final when his Netherlands side were beaten 1-0 by Spain after extra time in 2010.
The Saudis qualified for four consecutive World Cups after appearing at the 1994 tournament, but have not reached another after their appearance at the 2006 edition.
Meanwhile, the UAE coach Mahdi Ali is likely to restore Ahmad Khalil to his starting line-up for the crunch encounter — which kicks off at 9.45pm UAE time.
The Al Ahli striker came off the bench to score his 14th goal of the qualifying campaign in the dying stages of the victory over Thailand after being rested due to unspecified physical problems.
Otherwise, Ali could choose to retain the midfielder Tariq Ahmad, who made an encouraging international debut last week and who was chosen ahead of the regular starter Amer Abdul Rahman.
The UAE defence, shorn of the long-term knee-injury victim Mohammad Ahmad, will have to be on their mettle to contain a fearsome Saudi attack, meanwhile.
Fourteen-goal Mohammad Al Sahlawi is the joint leading goalscoring in the Asian qualifying campaign with Khalil, while the diminutive attacking midfielder Nawaf Al Abed has netted three penalties in the Saudis’ three Group B games.
The 2014 Asian Player of the Year, Nasser Al Shamrani, will also pose a considerable threat to the UAE and scored the equaliser against Australia last week.
