Ten minutes into Sunday’s friendly against Paraguay, the form of UAE football was revealed in microcosm.
A brilliant passage of tiki-taka left the Paraguayan defence bamboozled and the final pass ended with the ball at the feet of Ahmed Khalil, with only the goalkeeper to beat.
With a wild swing of his right boot, the Al Ahli striker produced one of the worst miscues likely to be seen at international level.
It summed up his fortunes, and the UAE's, during the 22-day, four-match training camp in Austria, as part of their preparations for the Gulf Cup in Saudi Arabia – solid in defence and midfield, poor in attack.
A 2-1 loss to the Italian club Udinese, a 0-0 draw with Norway, 1-1 against Lithuania and another scoreless draw with Paraguay. Four matches, two goals.
It is easy to see where the UAE’s problems lie, although coach Mahdi Ali said he is not concerned by the team’s recent lack of firepower.
“We are still at the start of the season,” he said. “Some of the players are not at peak form yet and need some more time.
“We’re not too concerned, I’m certain we’ll score in the competitive matches.”
He had seen enough incremental improvements to put his mind at ease.
The 2-1 defeat against Udinese had been the first match of the season for the team, little more than a fitness exercise.
Away to Norway in the second match saw a solid defensive performance tarnished by a poor attack.
Without Omar Abdulrahman, the midfielder who was with Al Ain in the Asian Champions League quarter-finals, the national side struggled to create chances.
His return, along with the Al Ain contingent after they ousted Al Ittihad in the ACL, improved matters in the third match, against Lithuania. But again, the attack of Ali Mabkhout and Khalil looked blunt, with no game-changing replacements in sight.
Khalil continued his uneven form, often looking bereft of confidence. Still, it was his excellent free kick in the dying minutes that allowed Abdelaziz Sanqour to score the equaliser.
Sunday’s match, despite another frustrating night in front of goal, brought a smile to Mahdi Ali’s face.
His team passed the ball significantly better than in the previous three matches – brilliantly, at times – and, though chances were wasted, at least they were being created.
“Every match has its own set of circumstances,” he said. “The team performed very well, but I know that they can be even better and hope that will be shown in the coming matches.”
The “group”, as he said after the match, is mostly settled, with one or two openings still up for grabs.
His trusted defence coped well with an attack led by Roque Santa Cruz, the former Bayern Munich and Manchester City striker looking to score his 30th international goal on his 100th appearance.
The tour produced other positives, too. Amer Abdulrahman slotted seamlessly into his holding position after a long injury lay-off and, alongside him, Omar Abdulrahman was at times sensational in his slightly advanced midfield position.
With these two acting as the team’s double pivot, it is no wonder the coach feels confident. But that does not solve his striking problems.
Apart from his appalling early miss, Khalil threatened only from dead-ball situations. His late first-half free kick was narrowly pushed wide by the Paraguayan keeper.
Khalil will need to get a confidence-sapping 2013/14 domestic season – in which he barely started a match for Al Ahli – out of his system, and quick.
Mabkhout had an excellent scoring run for the national team last season, but now he looks out of sorts. Meanwhile, captain Ismail Matar, 31, is injured again.
The coach will seek a way to improve the confidence of his forwards ahead of the next training camp, in October, and the Gulf Cup the following month. Failing that, he will be hoping that someone will make a late breakthrough.
Ahmed Ali of Baniyas, another player who has had injury problems, and Ismail Al Hammadi could yet emerge as solutions.
Those familiar with Mahdi Ali’s methods will not be surprised by his calm in the face of this goal drought.
As the players walked off the pitch in Villach, Austria, on Sunday night, he could be seen having a discussion with Ali Kashief, who had just kept a clean sheet.
Mahdi Ali remains a perfectionist and, for now, it seems his priority is to ensure a solid base upon which to build an attack. First thing is first.
At the end of the training camp, he insisted that the team had achieved what it “set out to do”. Perhaps in the next one, the focus will be on putting the ball in the back of the net.
akhaled@thenational.ae
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