The Olympic team's dramatic Asian Games penalty shoot-out win over a North Korea side which included seven players from their World Cup squad has raised hopes of qualifying for London 2012 and the 2014 World Cup.
This crop of Emiratis have been labelled as the country's "golden generation", having won the Under 16 Gulf Cup in 2006, the U19 Asian Cup in 2008 and the U23 Gulf Cup in August.
They enhanced their reputation with a 9-8 spot-kick victory on Friday to set up a semi-final showdown for coach Mahdi Ali's side with South Korea on Tuesday.
The UAE had never gone beyond the group stage in the previous five Asian Games.
"There is absolutely no doubt it was one of their most significant victories," said Fahad Ali, the former UAE captain and now a football analyst. "They are already a vastly experienced and successful squad in the age-group competitions, but this win over the Koreans makes them even better. They certainly are on the right path to take the country's ambitions of playing in next year's London Olympics and later carry on the nation's hope of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup."
Bernard Schumm, the Football Association's director of coaching and youth development, believes two factors have contributed towards the success of this team.
"It was their experience and mental strength," Schumm said. "This team has been together for more than five years and they have had a lot of success in the age-group competitions, and that success is now their mental strength, which means they refuse to lose."
Schumm felt the sides were almost perfectly equal. "At the end, it was left for one player to have a little more concentration and confidence than the Korean player," the German said.
"Ali Kasheif (the UAE goalkeeper) did well to save one of the spot kicks, and Mohammed al Shehhi used all of his experience to finish it off when it came to his turn. Incidentally or coincidentally, he was at the right place at the right time. It seemed he was saved for the right moment.
"The Koreans may have had seven of their players from their World Cup squad, but don't forget this UAE team is almost like their national team without Ismail Matar, Subait Khater and Majed Naser, the goalkeeper.
"I saw it as two full national teams, and they both played a highly technical game in all aspects to cancel out each other in tactics, skills and the physical abilities. Both teams could have won when it went to the penalty shoot out."
Meanwhile, Saif Mohammed, the Al Ain midfielder, has pulled out of the senior national team squad who depart for Yemen this morning for the Gulf Cup.
He is replaced by Ali Mabkhout, the attacking midfielder from Al Jazira, and Al Wasl's Fadhel Ahmed, who has been included as cover. The UAE play Iraq in their Group B match on Tuesday.
apassela@thenational.ae
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Stage result
1. Pascal Ackermann (GER) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 3:29.09
2. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto-Soudal
3. Rudy Barbier (FRA) Israel Start-Up Nation
4. Dylan Groenewegen (NED) Jumbo-Visma
5. Luka Mezgec (SLO) Mitchelton-Scott
6. Alberto Dainese (ITA) Sunweb
7. Jakub Mareczko (ITA) CCC
8. Max Walscheid (GER) NTT
9. José Rojas (ESP) Movistar
10. Andrea Vendrame (ITA) Ag2r La Mondiale, all at same time
The specs: Fenyr SuperSport
Price, base: Dh5.1 million
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 800hp @ 7,100pm
Torque: 980Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 13.5L / 100km
Tips for entertaining with ease
· Set the table the night before. It’s a small job but it will make you feel more organised once done.
· As the host, your mood sets the tone. If people arrive to find you red-faced and harried, they’re not going to relax until you do. Take a deep breath and try to exude calm energy.
· Guests tend to turn up thirsty. Fill a big jug with iced water and lemon or lime slices and encourage people to help themselves.
· Have some background music on to help create a bit of ambience and fill any initial lulls in conversations.
· The meal certainly doesn’t need to be ready the moment your guests step through the door, but if there’s a nibble or two that can be passed around it will ward off hunger pangs and buy you a bit more time in the kitchen.
· You absolutely don’t have to make every element of the brunch from scratch. Take inspiration from our ideas for ready-made extras and by all means pick up a store-bought dessert.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures:
Monday, 1st 50-over match
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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