Dubai: Football legend and Al Wasl coach Diego Maradona lauded the success of the UAE's football system which has resulted in the country's first qualification to the Olympics.
The UAE fought back from two goals down to beat Uzbekistan in Tashkent 3-2 in their final Asian qualifier for the 2012 London Olympic Games on Wednesday. The win meant they topped their group and will now play at the Olympics in the summer.
Congratulating the people of the UAE on the "great achievement that has made the country proud", Maradona hailed the development system at grassroots level that has resulted in the success of the team.
"When you plan well, fate will always go your way and all the hard work that has been put in will start showing results," Maradona said after Al Wasl's match against Al Jazira late on Thursday.
"This UAE team are born champions and this is their reward for all the hard work they have put in for the past few years. They had a plan and they went about achieving this plan through careful planning. This is a just reward for their hard work and I wish them all the best when they go to London for the Olympic Games. I hope they achieve more success there."
No space
Meanwhile, Maradona blamed the lack of incision for Al Wasl's solitary goal loss to defending champions Al Jazira in the 15th round of the Etisalat Pro League in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
"The game was equal and the performance of both teams was equal too. I am very happy with the performance of my players. I put down a plan and they all stuck to the plan of controlling the midfield and ensuring that their attackers Bare [Jader Volnei Spindler] and [Ricardo] Oliveira did not have too much space to mount attacks," Maradona said.
"We made one mistake, they got one chance and they scored. We had three clear opportunities, but we did not score. So ultimately luck was not on our side."
Asked whether his team's inability to score or their ability to let in goals during the last part of the match is a cause for concern, the Al Wasl coach said: "It may be a lack of focus and concentration towards the end of a match. We have come a long way from not being able to create chances to managing to create goal scoring opportunities."
