Moataz Al-Shami (Dubai)
The technical staff of our national team closed the file on the Palestine match, which ended in a 1-1 draw, within the second round of the Asian Cup hosted by Qatar, and will continue until next February 10, and opened the file to focus on facing Iran, at the end of the group stage, which is scheduled for next Tuesday.
The Portuguese coach, Paulo Bento, seeks to take advantage of the daily exercises that began with a theoretical lecture, in which he explained the tactical mistakes that the players made, especially in the slow transfer of balls and the absence of longitudinal and through passes that facilitate the task of the front line, in addition to some individual mistakes that enabled the Palestine national team to return to the team. The match, creating a threat to the goal throughout the second half.
“Al-Abyad” is performing its training today at the Lusail Sub-State, closely monitored by the entire technical staff, especially in light of Pinto’s desire to make some adjustments, in line with the capabilities of the Iranian competitor, and the candidate to compete for the title, especially at the defense level, in light of the absence of… Khalifa Al-Hammadi due to expulsion against Palestine, which raises indicators of Khaled Al-Hashimi’s return to the “heart of defence”.
The team is holding on to the strong chances available to it of qualifying to the round of 16 in the second place of the tournament, which means playing with the motives of winning against Iran, or clinging to exiting with a “point” from the match that guarantees a comfortable position for the team, because the loss puts the “white” in “complicated calculations.” Somewhat, as our team needs to lose by one goal, or two goals at most, to ensure qualification within the “best thirds” in the groups.
Pinto expressed his anger at the decline in the level of some players against Palestine, and the lack of performance with a high fighting spirit, in addition to committing some mistakes that cost the team two points.
The players pledged to correct themselves during the next match and avoid the mistakes that the team made, as the focus is on treating the negatives during daily training, until the date of the upcoming match.
The technical staff of our team subjected the Iranian competitor to close monitoring, whether against Palestine, or attending its match against Hong Kong, with the aim of developing the most appropriate tactic to confront it.
For his part, German Winfried Schaefer, former coach of Al Ain, Shabab Al Ahly, Cameroon and Thailand, expressed his astonishment at the level of performance of “Al-Abyad” against Palestine, pointing out that the team’s players possessed high technical and skill capabilities, but they abandoned them and surrendered to pressure in a match he described as “easy” and was Within reach of the team.
He added: If we look at the capabilities of the UAE players, they are much better compared to the Palestinian players, in addition to what is provided to the Emirati player in a strong competitive league, other than the market value of the players, and therefore their returns should have kept pace with this level, but they fell into easy mistakes that were not necessary. to fall into.
He said: The Palestine national team played randomly and relied on crosses. This should have been stopped, and the focus should be on bringing in elements of experience, playing in an organized manner, and moving the ball faster than it was before, with high pressure on the opponent’s players, which is what the national team did not provide in the match. Thus, he fell into a draw trap.
Schaefer called on the national team players to regain calm and focus, and to go through the current training exercises with confidence, with the aim of correcting mistakes, and to enter the next confrontation against Iran cautiously, and with a different tactic, which depends on closing spaces, putting pressure on the ball carrier, and playing with a high fighting spirit, because the Iranian national team has players with great talent. High capabilities and skills.
On the other hand, the match against Iran is of great importance, given that the Iranian national team is the most prominent competitor to “Al-Abyad” in the third group, which includes alongside them Palestine and Hong Kong, where Pinto and his assistant staff are racing against time to prepare a replacement for defender Khalifa Al-Hammadi, who will not be there. He is available in the match with Iran, after being sent off with a red card in the “White” match with Palestine, and the coach has a group of options between which he chooses to choose the most prepared player.
Khaled Issa, our national team's goalkeeper, gave an outstanding level of performance, which earned him the praise of the national team's fans. He also won the title of best player in the match, after he contributed to maintaining a tie in a difficult match.
Regarding the match, Khaled Issa said, “We apologize to the fans who supported us during our match with Palestine, because we hoped to give them victory, but at the same time I say congratulations to the team and the fans for this fighting spirit that appeared in the match, and this is what we needed, and the fighting spirit can lead the team.” To the furthest extent in the tournament.”
Our national team's goalkeeper promised the fans to strive to provide the best in the upcoming matches, and to appear better than in previous matches, hoping that the “White” team would be able to qualify for the next stage, and succeed in reaching the furthest stage in the Asian Cup.
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