Dubai: Former national star Nasser Khamis, a member of the UAE’s Class of 1990, feels the UAE can still win the remaining nine points on offer and keep alive their hopes for a second Fifa World Cup appearance next year.
The UAE qualified for their only World Cup appearance so far in Italia’90 with Nasser’s older brother Fahad as the captain.
Mahdi Ali was entrusted with the task of changing their fortunes and the UAE coach did not disappoint as he led a youthful team to a string of successes, including victory in the AFC U19 Asian Championships in 2009, participation at the Fifa U20 World Cup the same year and a ticket to the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The same team evolved further to reclaim their Gulf Cup crown in 2013 [first win in 2007] and qualified for the 2015 Asian Cup, where they finished third. Since then, the team has struggled a bit with Ali leaving his post last month following identical 0-2 losses in Group B against Japan and Australia in their qualifying rounds for the 2018 Fifa World Cup.
The AFC qualifying offers four and-a-half berths for Asian teams at the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia. The top two teams from both groups will advance directly, while the two third-placed teams will play on a home-and-away basis to decide a continental challenger who will feature in a play-off against an opponent from the Concacaf zone. The winner of the play-off makes it to Russia, making the fifth member from the Asian continent a possibility.
Iran and South Korea currently head Group A while Japan and Saudi Arabia are in the top two positions in Group B with an identical 16 points on goal difference. The UAE is in fourth position with nine points, trying to chase down Australia who are in third with 13 points. Iraq (four points) and Thailand (one) are out of the running for a direct entry.
“The UAE will always be in the race as long as we pick up full points from the remaining matches. This is football and everyone has a chance as long as they are willing to play with their hearts and give everything for the sake of seeing their country at such an important international competition,” Khamis told Gulf News.
“There are many things that have been happening in the national team and these have not helped their pursuit of qualifying too much. We need to set aside these negative factors and concentrate on what we need to do to ensure the players are in the right frame of mind to be among genuine contenders for a place in Russia next year,” the former playmaker added.
“We have to put things in order now: the priority should be to make the players motivated again and then to hurry up with the appointment of a coach,” Khamis stressed.
“As a country, we have everything needed to make this step by qualifying for a World Cup. Fortunately, I am among a few who believe the UAE team can do it,” he smiled.
Next up for the ‘Whites’ is a friendly home match against Qatar on June 6 followed by a trip to Thailand on June 13. After the summer break, the UAE will host Saudi Arabia on August 31 and round off the qualifiers with an away tie against Iraq on September 5.
What’s next?
June 6: UAE vs Qatar friendly match
June 13: Thailand vs UAE (2018 World Cup qualifying)
August 31: UAE vs Saudi Arabia (Qualifier)
September 5: Iraq vs UAE (Qualifer)
