Do-or-die battle for UAE today

The UAE football team will meet Thailand today in a do-or-die battle at the main stadium at the Masan Sports Complex in Busan to decide the winner of Group B and their fate in the championships.

The match kicks off at 4:33 pm Busan time (11:33 UAE local time).

UAE are in second place with four points while Thailand top the group with six following their identical 3-0 victories over Yemen and Vietnam. The UAE dropped valuable points when they were held goalless by Vietnam before they produced an improved performance to beat Yemen 2-1.

The UAE enter today's match with only one option - to beat Thailand and top the group should they hope to qualify for the quarterfinals. Thailand have two alternatives, to win or draw which will take them as group leaders in to the quarters.

"The match is like a Cup final for us. We have no choice but to win and top the group to reach the quarterfinals. We know what we want from the match," said UAE coach Roy Hodgson before the UAE team held their final training session in Busan stadium yesterday.

"I didn't see Thailand playing because they were playing on the same days we were playing against Vietnam and Yemen. Also we didn't have anyone to watch them because my assistant Hilal was in hospital," he added.

Hodgson said that he hadn't met with his compatriot Peter Withe, the former Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest striker, and the current manager of the Thailand team.

"We played against each other when we were players in the English league in the early eighties, but we haven't met as managers, I think this will be the first," he said.

Hodgson said that he had a fair idea what the UAE eleven would look like but did not intend to announce it to the press.

UAE team manager Abdul Majied Hussain told Gulf News that the UAE formation will not be different than the one that met Yemen last Monday.

"Only the goalkeeper Ahmed Salim could be replaced by the reserve goalkeeper Walid Salim, because Ahmed is suffering from a stomach pain. But we will wait till the morning to see if Salim will be fit or not," he said.

Abdul Majied also said that coach Hodgson will be looking for stability as he is not the kind of coach who likes to make changes every match.

UAE probables for today's match:
Walid Salim (Ahmed Salim), Faiz Juma, Mohammed Qassim, Jalil Abdul Rahman, Abdullah Ali, Fahd Masood, Abdul Rahim Juma, Subait Khater, Haydar Allo Ali (Nawaf Mubarak), Salim Saad, Faisal Ali (Saeed Al Kass).