Mahdi Ali: UAE didn’t deserve to lose
(9 votes, average: 2.00 out of 5)
Loading...AFC Asian Cup – BRISBANE, United Arab Emirates coach Mahdi Ali said his team deserved points from their heart-breaking 1-0 defeat to Iran in Group C of the AFC Asian Cup on Monday.
UAE did not have a single shot on target against a very determined Iranian side who won the group after an intense affair at Brisbane Stadium where substitute Reza Ghoochannejhad ended the stalemate in stoppage time.
UAE only needed a draw to move on to the quarter-finals as the group’s first-place team but Ghoochannejhad’s 91st-minute header now have them facing a potentially very difficult opponent.
Carlos Queiroz’s Iran will face the runners-up of Group D which will likely be either Iraq or Jordan. UAE, on the other hand, are set to play the Group D winners, expected to be holders Japan.
“This is football,” Ali said. “Sometimes, you see the side of football you don’t want to see. We didn’t deserve to lose the game but we lost. Now we have to focus on our game against Japan.
“We were not playing this game to try to avoid Japan. We wanted to win the group because it would have given us more motivation for the second round. We don’t have a problem playing Japan or any other team.”
Ali did not make any substitutions and defended his decision to stick with the first team, saying he felt they were playing well enough to win the match.
“We didn’t make any substitutions because we were doing well,” he said. “We were playing good football and had many chances. That’s why we made no changes.
“The players knew they played well and I think that will help them relax a little bit. I thanked them for their effort and the game they played.”
The manager also defended his young playmaker, Omar Abdulrahman of Al Ain, who showed flashes of his brilliance but was neutralised by the Iranian defence for large patches of the game.
“Sometimes you play well and you lose,” Ali said of his playmaker. “I think Omar is talented and has a great future. He is one of the best players of the tournament and we are happy with his performance here.”
