• Home
• /
• Football

UAE boys confident of good show in final

The UAE Olympic national team will take on Kuwaiti counterparts in the final of the ongoing second AGCC U-23 Championship at the Aspire Indoor Stadium in Doha, Qatar on Saturday.

The kick off is at 6.30pm UAE time.

UAE advanced to the final following their fabulous 3-1 victory over hosts Qatar in the semifinals at the same venue on Wednesday. Ahmed Khalil earned a double and substitute Haboush Saleh added the third goal.

The UAE lads carried out their final training session at the match venue. The players returned to action immediately after their tough clash against Qatar and all the players are training very well ahead of the crucial tie.

Close sources to the team said head coach Mahdi Ali may go ahead with the same formation which started the game against Qatar in the light of the brilliant performance of the key players.

Mohammed Khalfan Al Rumaithi flew to Doha on Thursday to closely watch the preparations for the final. The UAE football boss attended the work-out on Thursday night and urged the players to fight with lion hearts. “I would like to congratulate everyone for the splendid performance during the tournament and the time has come to make the country proud,” he told the players.

In the meantime, top officials of the UAE Football Association arrived at the Qatari capital to show their support to the players.

UAE team’s manager Mohammed Obaid Hammad thanked Al Rumaithi, officials and UAE faithful fans who came to Doha to cheer the players.

UAE talented striker Ahmed Khalil appears at the top of scorers’ table with four goals ahead of their crucial tie against Kuwait. Khalil fired home the all-important goal in the UAE’s 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia, and headed home the equaliser in the 1-1 clash against Kuwait before he earned a double in the 3-1 victory over Qatar in the semifinal.

The final of the U-23 championship is expected to attract huge crowd when the UAE line up for honours against Kuwait at the Aspire Indoor Stadium in Doha. Many UAE fans will drive their cars to the Qatari capital while many others have booked their flights to cheer the players. The UAEFA has also organised special road trips by buses to carry the fans free to Doha.

Meanwhile, the UAE delegation visited the Kuwaiti keeper Hussain Ahmed Kankoni who is recovering from a knee injury at the Spitar Sports Hospital. The Kuwaiti keeper had a bad fall during the match between UAE and Kuwait in the preliminary round.

hisham@khaleejtimes.com