Dubai: UAE coach Mahdi Ali said he was positive his side can progress to the third round of Fifa World Cup qualifiers after coming from behind to beat Euro 2016 qualified Iceland 2-1 in a friendly at Al Nasr Club on Saturday.
Vidar Orn Kjartanssan headed the visitors in front from Andres Mar Johannesson’s cross on 14 minutes. But Omar Abdul Rahman inspired a fight back, first chipping Esmail Al Hammadi through on goal for the equaliser on 25 minutes and then supplying Ali Mabkhout via a deflected free-kick for the winner on 49 minutes.
The game served as preparation for The Whites’ remaining second round World Cup qualifiers at home to Palestine and Saudi Arabia in March.
Mahdi’s men are second in their group, three points behind leaders Saudi. But they must win their remaining games against two sides they respectively drew and lost against on their travels, if they are to keep their dreams of reaching a second World Cup since 1990 alive.
However, following this inspired victory over Iceland, who are 28 positions higher than the UAE in the Fifa World Rankings, Ali expressed hope.
“I am very happy with the performance of the team today especially as they played against a very strong side,” said Ali. “It was a good chance for us to see how ready they are for upcoming matches and I hope this win will give them more confidence for our future games.
“I am always optimistic and positive, but we have to work very hard. We are very keenly awaiting these two games. It’s good they are both at home but we have to focus on the first game because that is the key for the next game.
“Of course, I have to be positive and optimistic for the future as that’s my job and that’s the difference between the coach and everybody else. But I have confidence in my team and players and hope they will do well.”
Asked if he thought the players shared his confidence, he replied: “Of course, and I think that was reflected in today’s game, even though it was a friendly they took it very seriously and it was a good chance to see how well they will do.”
Iceland coach Lars Lagerback handed full credit to the UAE but explained his squad was depleted due to this fixture being played outside the international window, meaning players based overseas couldn’t get released by their clubs. On top of that, the players he did have available, play in the Nordic leagues, which are out of season, resulting in an unconditioned side.
“We knew the UAE was a good team. They have a very technical side with good movement and a pretty good defence, which is aggressive and tries to win the ball back. They are 64th in the rankings, so that shows they have a good game and as expected they did well today. They were better than us.
“This wasn’t really in preparations for our debut at this summer’s Euros. A lot of these players are for the future. We are missing a lot of players, so this squad is an investment because when you come from the Nordic countries, when you have harsh winters and the clubs aren’t successful in Europe, this is the only international experience we can get.
“If you look at the camp, we had two good games [they had earlier beaten Finland 1-0 in a friendly at Al Jazira on Tuesday], it was good experience for the players and they realised if you want to play at this level you have to improve on what you’re doing back home.”
