Dubai: After losing the chance to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, following a 2-0 defeat at the hands of North Korea last Saturday, the UAE clash today with Saudi Arabia in a match to restore pride for the players.
The game is important for the Saudis after they defeated Iran 2-1 in Tehran to revive hopes of reaching the fifth consecutive World Cup finals. The Saudis are placed third in group B with seven points, and the UAE at the bottom with one point from a draw against Iran in Dubai and four defeats.
The UAE team arrived in Riyadh on Sunday early morning on a special flight from the North Korean capital Pyongyang. They held three training sessions in Riyadh under French coach Dominique Bathenay. Today's match could be his last mission with the UAE after he became coach following the resignation of Bruno Metsu last September.
The team played eight official matches under Bathenay in the World Cup qualifiers, Gulf Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers, won two against Yemen and Malaysia, drew two with Iran and Qatar and lost four matches to Saudi Arabia, South Korea, North Korea and Uzbekistan.
The UAE players denied that they will be easy fodder for Saudi Arabia today after they lost the chance to qualify for the World cup finals. "This is a good chance for us to prove that we are a tough competitors even if we lost the chance to qualify for the World Cup finals," UAE midfielder Nawaf Mubarak told Gulf News from Riyadh.
"The match will be difficult for the Saudis who won their last game against Iran and wants to continue winning. That will put a heavy pressure on them," he said. Nawaf said the new faces in the UAE team need time to gain experience.
"We lost the chance when we were defeated at home by Saudi Arabia and North Korea. It was a poor start, which made things difficult for us and after that we lost 4-1 against South Korea. If you want to reach the World cup Finals, you can't afford to lose at home," Nawaf said.
UAE striker Esmail Mattar will return to lead the frontline. Mattar missed the North Korea game due to suspension after receiving two yellow cards.
Bathenay is not likely to make major changes in the team that lost against North Korea.
Saudi Arabian will be strengthened by the return of striker Yasir Al Qahttani, the Asian footballer of the Year in 2007 who was absent in the last match against Iran.
