Kuala Lumpur: UAE coach Mahdi Ali said victory is what mattered as his side ambled to a narrow 1-0 win over Timor-Leste in their opening World Cup qualifier at the Shah Alam Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
“I think as a result it was very good for us as we came here to win the game and we achieved that and that’s the most important thing,” said Ali.
“We hadn’t played since the Asian Cup in January and the players came to me without rest at the end of the season. We also played this game in 95 per cent humidity, so it was very difficult.
“Other players whose teams had been knocked out of the Presidents Cup early hadn’t played for over a month so it was very difficult for them to keep their performance levels up. I had spoken about this but nothing was done, but under circumstances I thank the players for all their efforts. They fought until the end and tried to score more. The most important thing was victory and now we will close this chapter and rest before the next game [against Malaysia] in September.”
Omar Abdul Rahman’s long shot 10 minutes from time was the only thing to separate the two sides in hot and humid conditions, after Timor-Leste had frustrated their higher ranked rivals for 80 minutes.
Of Omar’s ability to change the game with a moment of magic, Ali added: “The whole team is important for me, it’s not just one player. The goal was an effort of the whole team, but yes, Omar did well.
“He ran the whole game more than any other player because he hasn’t played much in the league this season. His last game was over a month ago.”
Ali added that the group would be difficult based on the first round of results but said the UAE would improve as their campaign goes on.
“All the groups are close, you see in football there are no big or small teams, especially with teams in the Far East improving, they have no star players but they are young, organised and fight well.
“We’ve seen all the results have been close but as I say this round wasn’t ideal for the GCC teams, it wasn’t the right time for us coming at the end of our season, that’s the reason why the second round will be different.”
“We brought 25 players here with young additions that are good for the future because we need more forwards. The league plays with many foreign forwards so we need to look for a solution upfront. I’m very happy with the youngsters because they worked hard and in the future, they have a lot of potential. The spirit of the team was also good as I said it was a very tough time, but we’re happy for the win.”
