UAE must put their best foot forward in Gulf Cup final

Abu Dhabi: Trust the UAE coach Alberto Zaccheroni to not change much tactically when they take on Oman in the Gulf Cup title clash on Friday.

And why would the Italian opt for a change in approach, when it has yielded dividends with a place in the final already achieved in his first major assignment as coach of the UAE.

The Whites were the only team to keep a clean sheet en route to the semis before beating Iraq 4-2 on penalties following a 0-0 stalemate. Oman confirmed their place in the final by defeating Bahrain 1-0 after recovering from the setback of losing their opening game against the UAE.

Both teams are quite evenly matched but the UAE will be going into the final with a slight physiological edge having beaten Oman in the group stages. But there is very little to boast about that success against Oman as it too had also come via a penalty.

Thereafter, the UAE made their progress with goalless draws against Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and against Iraq.

Hence, the key to the UAE and Zaccheroni being in this position is not because of a goal-feast but their defensive tactics.

The UAE have been following a 3-4-3 formation. The three centre backs are Mohanad Salem, Esmail Ahmad and Mubarak Ganem. In front of that trio are the two defensive midfielders — Ali Salween and Khamis Esmail. Alongside are the two wing backs, Mohammad Ahmad and Mohammad Al Menhali. This gives UAE’s attacking playmaker Omar Abdul Rahman the luxury of playing freely taking up any role up front with strikers Ahmad Khalil and Al Mabkhout for company.

Beefing up the defence has handed tremendous support to goalkeeper Khalid Eisa, who himself has been sensational under the bar and has allowed nothing to go past him.

Despite this, the UAE haven’t been able to score and that has a lot to do with the form of their forwards. Mabkhout has been far from his self and his Midas touch has been missing throughout the tournament. He has been often found wanting in reading Abdul Rahman’s deft passes. If at all Mabkhout would reach for it, he would end up running out of ideas once inside the box.

Golden boot in 2014

Fans across the UAE will be hoping that Mabkhout in the final will be able to show some glimpse of the magic that saw him win the golden boot in the last edition of the Gulf Cup in 2014.

Another reason for the dearth of goals is the form Al Jazira forward Khalil is in. Struggling with injuries, Khalil was in the starting XI for the first time in the tournament against Iraq in the semis. He was on the pitch for a good 74 minutes but made very little impact. The time spent on the sidelines has clearly taken the sheen off the striker and he needs time to be in the scheme of things.

Esmail Al Hammadi as a starter and off the bench too has lacked the guile to provide the breakthrough. In these circumstances, Abdul Rahman has to burden himself with the scoring responsibility as well.

Though that has been UAE approach, all through this tournament, it hasn’t yielded rewards either. More so because none of the teams in this region need to do any homework to know how devastating Abdul Rahman can be.

In every match, the Al Ain playmaker had been tightly marked and been subject to some harsh tackles which he has somehow weathered by taking in painkillers. But this is the finals, it can’t get any bigger and knowing Abdul Rahman, one can be certain that the ace midfielder will have something up his sleeves for a big match like this. But the way the teams have played so far in the tournament, don’t be surprised to see the title being decided in another shoot-out.

Catch the match

Gulf Cup final

Jaber Al Ahmad Stadium, Kuwait

Friday, 6.30pm

Watch it on Abu Dhabi Sports and Dubai Sports