UAE soccer starlets stun Saudis with battling draw

Cairo: A tactical error by Saudi Arabia against a young UAE team on Wednesday night resulted in a 1-1 draw and the death of Saudi's chances of winning the Pan Arab Games football tournament.

The under-23 side were always going to struggle against the first teams of Egypt, Saudi and Libya as they contested what has turned out to be a somewhat farcical event.

The tournament started with defeats for the UAE against Egypt (3-0) and Libya (2-0). The event was beginning to seem like a step too far for young Emiratis who had only been sent to gain experience.

But the meeting with the only other under-23 side in the competition, Sudan, provided a desperately-needed 2-0 win, and set the UAE up for an epic battle in their final game against Saudi.

Saudi rested key players for what was expected to be the medal-clash against Egypt on Saturday.

Miraculous

Abdullah Malullah headed home the first miraculous goal for the UAE nine minutes in and Basheer Ali equalised for Saudi in the opening minutes of the second half. Saudi's gold-medal hopes now appear dashed and while the UAE have at least salvaged their pride. The gold will now be fought over by Egypt and Libya.