Nawaf Mubarak has called on disappointed UAE football fans to keep faith and give the players more time to deliver on their promise. "We know we have disappointed the fans, but we need their support at this moment," he said. "The players in the current squad have a really bright future, we just need time and more experience. "So we need to persist with these players and not cart them away because of our results in recent games and our position in the qualifiers.
"I believe, given the time and exposure, we will be able to prove our worth." Analysing the UAE's performance in the final round of Asian qualifying, which has produced a solitary point from five games, Mubarak blames the two defeats at home to North Korea and Saudi Arabia in the opening games for their present situation. "We got off to a really bad start," he said. "We dropped six points at home, in front of our fans and that has been the cause of our disappointing campaign.
"In a competition like this, you cannot afford to drop points at home, but we did. We could not make our home advantage count. We have got just one point from three home games and that is not good enough." The Saudi coach Jose Peseiro, said: "We must put in a lot of effort in order to get a positive result which will keep our chances alive of qualifying for the World Cup." arizvi@thenational.ae Saudi Arabia v UAE Abu Dhabi TV (ko 9.30pm)
