Dubai: Three Arabian Gulf Cup matches that were postponed on Saturday, due to Friday’s martyrdom of 45 Emirati soldiers in Yemen, have been rescheduled for Monday.
The Pro League Committee announced on Sunday that the fixtures would take place on September 7 with kick-off times unchanged. Emirates will play Al Dhafra and Dibba Fujairah will take on Al Wahda from 17.40, while Al Shaab will host Al Ahli from 20.30.
The UAE’s second round 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifier away to Palestine in Ramallah will continue, as scheduled, from 6pm UAE time on Tuesday.
Several UAE national team players took to twitter to express their condolences to the families of those martyred in Yemen.
Al Ain midfielder Omar Abdul Rahman tweeted: “In their childhood they sang loudly, oh nation, we sacrifice our lives for you. And here they are today, they gave their lives and shed their blood for the sake of religion and the nation. Oh God, have mercy on our martyrs.”
Al Jazira midfielder Khamis Esmail added: “Oh nation, we sacrifice our lives to you. There are no words to do our heroes justice. I don’t know whether to be sad for the lives we’ve lost, or happy about our heroes who have filled us with pride. May they rest in peace.”
In Friday’s matches Al Shabab beat Al Ain 2-1 away after Jo fired in two second half strikes to cancel out Lee Myeong-ju’s first half opener. Al Wasl held Al Nasr to a goalless away draw and Fujairah humbled Sharjah 3-1 at home.
Khalil Khamis and Omar Ali put Fujairah 2-0 up after 11 minutes before Wanderley Santos pulled one back after the interval, but Patrick Friday Eze added a third after the hour to secure the victory.
