Abu Dhabi: United Arab Emirates coach Mahdi Ali was content after his side’s dream of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup was kept alive by a 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium on Tuesday.
The Saudis were initially on course for victory when Taiseer Al Jassam fired them ahead in the 24th minute, but Omar Abdulrahman equalised seven minutes after halftime to earn the hosts a share of the spoils.
Although UAE still finished behind Saudi Arabia in Group A of the joint-qualifiers, the point was enough to send them through to the third round of World Cup qualifying as one of the four best runners-up.
It has not been an easy week for the Whites especially after the tragic passing of Lars Gansauer, the team’s video analyst and statistician, from a heart attack, which is why Mahdi Ali was relieved that they were able to accomplish their goal of advancing.
“I didn’t want to speak about the difficult times the players had to go through before the match because I didn’t want to make that an excuse,” said the 50-year-old, according to The National.
“We had three injuries and three suspensions, and the passing out of my assistant Lars Gansauer. He died in front of the players while they were training.
“It was the first time they experienced such an incident. It was very hard for them because they have known him for a long time as a member of the technical staff.
“So I’m very thankful for our qualification to the next round and thankful for the players for achieving it. We hope we can prepare better for the next round.”
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia coach Bert van Marwijk claims he will be returning to Riyadh a happy man following a campaign which saw them claim six wins and two draws from eight qualifiers.
“We came with the intention of winning but even a draw wasn’t a bad result for us,” said the former Netherlands boss.
“After 20 minutes we had the best part of our game. You could see how good we can play our football (and) we scored a good goal.
“In the second half we relaxed because we (knew) we were leading. We had an opportunity to score a second goal but we couldn’t do it.
“In the last ten minutes we regained some control and nearly regained the lead.”
UAE and Saudi Arabia will now have to wait until April 12 to find out what is next for them, when the draw for the third round of the World Cup qualifiers is made in Kuala Lumpur.
Photo: AFP
Source: the-afc.com