UAE look to scale new heights against Thailand in WC qualifiers

Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter

A resilient UAE will look to extend their winning streak against Thailand in the top of the table clash at the joint China 2023 Asian Cup and 2022 World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.

The UAE are on the top of the Group G after two victories from as many matches followed by Thailand in second. They defeated Malaysia 2-0 in an away-match and routed Indonesia 5-0 at home. While Thailand have one win and one draw from their two games as of now.

UAE are the heavily favourites to not only advance but also emerge as the leader of the Group G as they look to seal FIFA World Cup qualification for only the second time in their history. The last time they qualified for the FIFA World Cup was in 1990, 29 years ago. The eight group winners and four best runners-up will advance to the China 2023 Finals and the final round of qualifying for Qatar 2022.

However, should Qatar —  having already qualified as hosts — win their group, the seven other group winners and five best second-placed sides will advance to the final round of qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The same applies should Qatar finish as one of the four best second-placed teams, with the fifth best group runners-up advancing to the third round of the Qualifiers. The next best 24 teams from the second round of the Asian Qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining 12 slots in the 24-team AFC Asian Cup China 2023.

Meanwhile, UAE will once again pin hopes on prolific striker Ali Mabkhout, who has already netted five times in two joint China 2023 Asian Cup and 2022 World Cup qualifying matches including a hat-trick against Indonesia.

With the hat-trick he also became the UAE’s all-time top scorer but insisted it was not enough and was just the beginning of the qualifiers.

Mabkhout has scored nine goals across all AFC tournaments so far in the season. Mabkhout has a stellar season as before this match, he had already scored six goals. He had netted twice against Malaysia and smashed four goals in six appearances in the AFC Asian Cup. He was on target in the 50th, 64th and 73rd minute after Khalil Ibrahim had opened the floodgates for the host with an opener in the 40th minute.

With the hat-trick, Mabkhout moved to 54 goals from 76 appearances for the UAE to become the all-time leading scorer for his country.

Under the new coach, Bert van Marwijk, who guided Australia at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, the whites have been scaling new heights in every new game and pushing the benchmark.

The Dutchman has the experience and the expertise the UAE need to see off the four Southeast Asian teams Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Van Marwjik succeeded Alberto Zaccheroni, who relinquished his post in late January immediately following the UAE’s exit at the semi-final stage of the Asian Cup despite being the hosts.

Van Marwijk expressed his satisfaction with the performance of his young team’s second consecutive victory in the tournament. Van Marwijk says his new-look UAE are on the right track with 100 per cent win record.

“I am very much satisfied with the performance of the team after two wins from as many games. I think we played a good game.

“The players are young but they showed a lot of discipline on the pitch. We didn’t get a yellow card either,” headed.

Van Marwijk likes to play firebrand football and attack from the word go. He also does not mind taking calculated risks. He gave four new players their debut in the match against Malaysia.

UAE veteran Ismail Matar, who has been an important cog of the UAE team, failed to find his place in Van Marwijk’s new set-up. He also played down talk of over-reliance on Mabkhout after his stellar performance in the tournament.

“It is not one player but the performance of the whole team. It is not only Mabkhout but also Khalil Ibrahim, who played well. He is the one who broke the deadlock,” he added.

All the while, the return of playmaker Omar Abdulrahman from injury is a massive boost for the UAE.

Meanwhile, former Emirati striker Jasim Mohamed Aldoukhi is hopeful that this UAE team will be able to repeat the 1990 feat.

“I think this team is very talented and can once again re-write the history. They are in good form and are at the top of their group,” said Jasim.

Jasim is best remembered for his injury-time goal against Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad which denied them a spot in the 1995 Asian Championship League final.

He also ruled out that UAE team was over-relying on Mabkhout and that puts the striker under pressure to deliver every time.

“I, myself, was a striker and I know it is not a one-man job. You cannot score a goal on your own unless your team-mates give you a pass.

“Against Indonesia a total of five goals were scored, out of which Mabkhout netted three. But Khalil Ibrahim and substitute Tariq Ahmed were also on target. So it is more of a teamwork than an individual,” he concluded.