Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Matrei: The UAE Olympic team defeated New Zealand 4-2 during their friendly match at Linz Stadium, Austria, as they wrapped up their London 2012 training camp on Thursday.
Earlier, they lost 2-1 to Honduras whom they beat 1-0 in the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2009 in Egypt, and also defeated Hungary 5-0 in their Olympic warm-up in Austria.
The other friendly matches in their training camp in Austria were against Swiss club Sion, Ukraine’s Shakhtar, FC Vaslui of Romania and Gabon.
Striker Ahmed Khalil scored a brace after 20 and 74 minutes while Rashid Essa (25mins) and Hamdan Al Kamali (59min penalty) each added one to the Emiratis’ tally. Marco Rojas (58mins) and Shane Smeltz (39mins) brought back two for the New Zealanders, who will also be in the Olympics.
The UAE are in Group A alongside Uruguay, Great Britain and Senegal and will open their campaign against the Uruguayans on July 26 at Manchester’s Old Trafford.