Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Newcastle: Coach Mahdi Ali has played down injury concerns over key midfielder Omar Abdulrahman ahead of Tuesday’s AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 semi-final with Australia as the United Arab Emirates plan a “balanced” approach to derail the tournament hosts at Newcastle Stadium.
Al Ain’s Abdulrahman had been ever-present en route to the semi-finals for the UAE and Ali was quick to play down suggestions the 23-year-old was seen limping following Friday’s penalty shootout victory over defending champions Japan in Sydney.
And with Walid Abbas returning having missed last week’s win due to suspension, only fellow defender Hamdan Al Kamali is set to be unavailable as the UAE seek to build on their first semi-final appearance since reaching the 1996 final.
“We don’t have any injuries in our team. Omar was not limping and ran normal,” said Ali.
“Everybody is ready for the game. Hamdan Al Kamali was injured before the game against Japan in training, but we have no other injuries.”
The UAE were forced to dig deep to edge out Japan 5-4 on penalties on Friday having only just fallen short of defending the lead handed to them by Ali Mabkhout’s fourth goal of the tournament after seven minutes.
Video highlights: Japan 1-1 UAE. aet (4-5 on penalties)
“Every game has its own plan. Sometimes you make a plan and then during the game you have to change your plan as you don’t know what will happen in the game. We worked very hard in the last game and we have seen the spirit and the will of the team, how desperate they were to win this game, and we will keep going for Tuesday's game,” added Ali.
“We will fight and keep going and not let it go very easy. We are very confident in our team and our players that you will see on the field.
“Scoring first gives an advantage. We always try to score from the first minute of the game, that is normal. We have our identity, our character and our style of play. We like to play in attack and sometimes we have to make a balance and for us, tomorrow (Tuesday) will be a balanced game.”
Both the UAE and 2011 finalists Australia have reached the semi-finals having lost one game, with Ali’s side beating Qatar and Bahrain before losing to Group C winners Iran in the group stage prior to their heroics against Japan.
Video highlights: Iran 1-0 UAE
Video highlights: Bahrain 1-2 UAE
Video Highlights: UAE 4-1 Qatar
“Australia are one of the best in Asia and we have seen them qualify for the semi-finals. They are a very good team with a good group of young and experienced players and they have a good coach,” said Ali.
“When we came here we announced our goal was to achieve the semi-final and our first goal has been achieved. Now the second part is that we aim to reach the final and we will work very hard to reach our level and reach the final.
“It will be a tough game for both teams, but we will do our best to achieve our goal.”
Photo: WSG