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Al Ain: The UAE are determined to win their final match against Syria next Sunday, June 22, even though they have almost secured their berth in the second round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup.
Iran have officially reached the second round with 9 points, while the UAE still follow with 8. Syria compete with UAE with 5 points, Kuwait trail with 4.
The UAE have three chances of advancing: to win, to draw, or to lose the encounter with maximum margin of 2-0 as they have a better goal difference than the Syrians. The UAE scored 6 goals and conceded 4, while the Syrians scored 4 and conceded 7.
Keeping concentration
"We know our chances but there is no way we will play to achieve a tie because that will distract our concentration in the match," Abdul Rahim Juma, the team captain, told Gulf News yesterday.
"We are determined to win our final match to reach the second round in style and to reward our fans."
"The team have shown great improvement and progressed both tactically and physically and we have been the best team in all our matches in the qualifiers.
"If we continued to play with the same standards, we are sure to win the match" Juma added.
Speaking about their match against Kuwait, Rashid Abdul Rahman, UAE's libero, admitted that the defenders made some "silly mistakes," allowing the opponents two goals.
"The fact that we were leading 2-0 led to distracting our focus and we became relaxed and the Kuwaitis capitalised on that to score twice."
Realise potential
Rashid added that experience had now transformed the players' mentality and confidence, and helped them realise their potential.
"Our team work is our stronger point and we are in a position to dictate the standings of the group".
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