Dubai: UAE coach Mahdi Ali is refusing to be intimidated by Saudi Arabia ahead of their pivotal second round 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifier in Jeddah’s King Abdullah Sports City Stadium from 9pm (UAE time) on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia are currently top Group A on nine points from three wins in three while the UAE are two points adrift in second after dropping points in a goalless draw away to Palestine last month.
Only the top team in each group is guaranteed a place in the third round of qualification, and they will only be joined by the best four runners-up from all eight groups.
At the moment, the UAE is seventh in the best runners-up standings with four games to go, meaning they will have to make their move away to Saudi now or risk seeing their dreams of reaching a second World Cup since 1990 lay in serious doubt.
‘The Whites’ have lost their last six meetings against The Green Falcons, the most recent of which was a 3-2 2014 Gulf Cup semi-final defeat in Riyadh last November. Meanwhile, the UAE’s last victory over Saudi Arabia was a narrow 1-0 win in the semi-final of the 2007 Gulf Cup in Abu Dhabi.
Despite that record, Ali said his side wasn’t scared of playing their more dominant GCC neighbours away from home, and added that they would work hard to buck the trend of recent results against The Greens. “We are not afraid to meet any team and we are used to playing in front of more than 70,000 spectators,” said Ali, at Wednesday’s pre-match conference in Jeddah.
“I’ve never beaten Saudi Arabia as coach of the UAE,” he added of his one previous meeting with them last year since taking charge in August 2012. “But last time, we were unlucky and hopefully I can get my first win against them tomorrow.
“History may not be in our favour but it’s about the effort and sweat throughout 90 minutes, not what’s happened in the past.
“Our camp in Qatar’s Aspire Academy in Doha achieved all its objectives in full and will be reflected in our performance tomorrow. We have no injuries in the squad and we are all prepared to meet Saudi Arabia,” he added of his side, who are currently placed 70th in the Fifa World Rankings, 18 places above 88th placed Saudi. The UAE also finished third in this January’s Asian Cup in Australia, while Saudi failed to get out of their group.
Saudi coach Bert van Marwijk, who led Holland to the 2010 Fifa World Cup final only to lose 1-0 to Spain, acknowledged that the UAE were one of the best sides in Asia, and identified the threats they aimed to nullify. “I’ve studied the UAE team and we know the seriousness of Omar Abdul Rahman, he is the most dangerous player in the team, but I’ve also warned my players about the pace of Ahmad Khalil and Ali Mabkhout,” he said.
But regarding the UAE’s higher ranking and better performance in the Asian Cup, Van Marwijk said present superiority would only be determined on the pitch.
