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UAE edge past Moldova

UAE edged Moldova 3-2 in a closely contested warm-up at the Sports Centre Stadium of the Austrian city of Salzburg on Saturday.

The fast-paced clash is the opener of the Whites’ campaign during their two-week long training camp in Europe.

The Moldovans broke the deadlock in the 19^th minute but Fares Jumaa levelled the result seven minutes later. In the 31^st minute Mohammed Al Shehhi made it 2-1. The Moldovans fought back and Boulgaro made it 2-2 in the 80^th minute before Ahmed Khalil netted the winner for the UAE in the 89^th minute.

The UAE started with keeper Ali Khusaif, defenders Hamdan Al Kamali, Fares Jumaa, Yousuf Jaber and Fawzi Faiz. In midfield, the Slovenian coach Srecko Katanec fielded Amer Abdul Rahman, Subait Khater, Mahmoud Khamis and Zeyab Awana while Mohammed Al Shehhi and Saeed Al Kas carried the hopes upfront.

Katanec sent in Salem Masoud, Ahmed Khalil, Sultan Bargash and Saeed Al Kathiri to replace Fawzi Faiz, Zeyab Awana, Saeed Al Kas, Mohammed Al Shehhi and Mahmoud Khamis before pulling out Ahmed Khalil to replace him with Sultan Al Ghafri in the dying minutes of the match.

UAE will take on Algeria in their second international at the Nurnberg Stadium in Germany on June 5, ahead of the 20^th edition of the Gulf Cup scheduled to be held in Yemen and the Doha 2011 AFC Asian Cup finals.

HE Mohammed Khalfan Al Rumaithi, president of the UAEFA praised the strong performance of the national team’s players and the positive result which they have attained.

Speaking to HE Obaid Al Shamsi, head of the UAE delegation to Europe after the end of the match over the phone, Al Rumaithi thanked the members of the administrative and technical staff and the players for the good effort they have put wishing them every success in their upcoming clash against Algeria.

UAE midfielder Sultan Bargash Al Menhali who created the third goal said the result was convincing and deserved thanks to the strong performance of the team’s elements.

“All players committed to the instructions of the coach and did nothing wrong during the match.

“I have expected to score or at least create a scoring opportunity and thanks God I have assisted Ahmed Khalil to seal the winner,” he said.

Al Menhali substituted Mohammed Al Shehhi in the second half. The UAE midfielder Fahad Masoud who made a welcome return to the national squad said the match was very crucial for them though it was friendly.

“We need to win at this stage to build up on more self confidence which we have gained from the previous excellent results. It’s good to beat a European side to give the players more motivation.

“The Moldovans are brilliant players and they have astonished us. We did well. The players played a very big game. The tactics which have been tailored by Katanec (4-4-2) is suitable for our skills,” he said.

Regarding their upcoming test against Algeria on June 5, Masoud said it’s going to be useful experience for the players. “Algeria have players from the European league and they will do their best to win before heading for South Africa to take part in the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals.

They were beaten 0-3 by Ireland and they will try to compensate. It’s going to be a very tough challenge and hopefully we will live up to the expectations,” he concluded.

The UAE keepers’ coach Maron Mati hailed the brilliant performance of Al Jazira goal keeper Ali Khusaif during the game against Moldova.

He said: “Khusaif was focused and shall not be blamed for the two goals which we have conceded. Fortunately we have three goal keepers at the same level of concentration and focus and they are competiting against each other. We are missing Majed Nasser and hopefully he would recover soon.”

UAE head coach Srecko Katanec said he’s expecting Ismail Matar to return to the pitch against Algeria after recovering from a light injury. Matar missed out against Moldova because the coach was of the opinion to keep him ready for the Algerian test on June 6.