Dubai: Maciej Skorza’s UAE Under-23 side beat Vietnam 4-3 on penalties to claim bronze in the Asian Games football tournament in Indonesia on Saturday.
The last time the UAE medalled (winning silver in 2010), the same batch of players went on to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 2012, won the country’s second Gulf Cup in 2013, and recorded their best overseas Asian Cup finish of third in 2015.
This ‘Golden Generation’ led by Mahdi Ali, which included 2015 and 2016 Asian Players of the Year Ahmad Khalil and Omar Abdul Rahman, also emerged at a time when the seniors before them had just failed to qualify for the World Cup. Can this latest batch now do the same? We think so, and here’s why …
They dealt well with an incident
A fight in a friendly against Malaysia, which saw midfielder Mohammad Khalfan Al Harasi sent home, marred the UAE’s pre-tournament build-up. This was obviously a negative, but the reaction, both by the UAE’s players and management, was worthy of praise. The UAE FA immediately issued an apology to their Malaysian counterparts, quickly sent the player home and promised an internal inquiry, while beginning disciplinary procedures. Not only was this textbook best practice, but it also set an example and enabled the rest of the squad to move on. While tempting to keep the player, this showed commitment to bigger things than just the tournament.
... won ugly and were resilient
Despite the incident, and going on to start the tournament with two defeats 1-0 to Syria and 3-1 to China either side of a 4-1 win over East Timor, the UAE still managed to scrape through the group stage as the fourth of four best third placed finishers. Such a start would fluster most, but Skorza’s side picked themselves up and ground out two penalty shootout wins over hosts Indonesia and North Korea in the knockouts. Although they lost 1-0 to Japan in the semis, a third win on penalties against Vietnam in the third place play-off showed winning resolve.
... bore a star in goal
Out of seven matches the UAE won four and three of those victories came via penalty shootouts, so it’s clear keeper Mohammad Al Shamsi had a decent tournament. The Al Wahda shot-stopper made vital winning saves against Indonesia, North Korea and Vietnam, and if there were individual awards for this tournament he would have definitely picked up the Golden Glove for his solid contribution. This bodes well for the future with Al Shamsi giving UAE senior team coach Alberto Zaccheroni plenty to think about in terms of future keeper succession, especially with first choice Ali Khaseif now over 30.
... shared the workload
Talk before the tournament centred around Al Jazira striker Ahmad Al Attas, however, although he did score one in normal time and three opening penalties in the shootouts, he wasn’t the team’s only star. Fellow Al Jazira player Zayed Al Ameri also scored four goals in normal time, two against East Timor and two (both normal time penalties) against Indonesia, as well as converting three in the shootouts. It was a nice surprise to see the star status shared, but also to know that nine open play goals were scored among six players. Also, of the 14 penalties taken across three shootouts by six players, the UAE only missed one.
... and did all this with a brand new coach
Maciej Skorza only took over from Hassan Al Abdouli in March, so whatever you might say about the Pole’s slightly negative tactics of holding out for penalties, if this is what he can achieve after less than six months in the job, imagine what the future holds? Providing Zaccheroni doesn’t absorb too many of Skorza’s current Under-23 side into the senior squad ahead of January’s UAE-hosted Asian Cup, the coach should be well-placed for next March’s Asian Under-23 Championship qualifiers for the Asian Under-23 Championship to be held in Thailand in January 2020. The top four from that tournament qualify to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
