Today's Edition
KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
The UAE played out a 1-1 draw against Syria in their third and final group clash to cling on to a passage to the quarter-finals of the Under-23 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
An early strike by Ali Al Mammari gave the cushion for Marcelo Broli’s young side to hold on to a draw result while their opponents needed a victory to stand a chance of advancing along with Japan from their group. Mahmoud Al Omar managed to find the equaliser in the 55th minute but the young Whites stood their ground just enough at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium in Jeddah.
Syria understandably started on the more aggressive note. Yet, in the 21st minute, both teams looked very determined to make it a comedy of errors. It started with a back pass in front of the UAE goal to custodian Khaled Tawhid. The goalkeeper who hasn’t been the best of the squad on display compounded the weak pass by relaying it poorly right in front to a teammate and the lurking Syrian attack pounced in. But they muffed up the opportunity with a volley sailing over the bar by a wide margin.
Immediately after, right-back Leonard Amesimeku showed the presence of mind to send down a long lob down the line.
Mansour Al Menhali wrestled with two lazy back-pedalling Syrian defenders, one of whom decided to also give a soft pass back to his goalkeeper. In that split second, Al Menhali shook off his closest rival and managed to get to the ball, crossed it in an instant and Al Mammari was at hand to tap it in.
If Amesimeku provided the inspiration for the first goal of the match, he was also partly found wanting when the equaliser came through a great touch by Mahmoud Al Omar 10 minutes into the second half.
Copying from Amesimeku’s book, a long ball was floated from the Syrian half, met near the left corner of the field, and guided in the front of the goal by Hozan Osman. Amesimeku and another defender left a big gap for Al Omar to glide in and just pivot his right foot to guide the ball into the net – a great display of cohesion.
With five minutes left to go to the end of regular play, the Syrian dominance on the ball was glaring in stats. They had 19 shots at the goal compared to UAE’s eight. And then UAE left two easiest of chances go begging in the next two minutes. Eissa Khalfan and Solomon Soso failed to find the right angle in the far corners of the post from their positions in close range.
While Khalfan had just come on as a substitute, Soso was replaced soon after the miss as UAE bought time and held on to their draw, enough to take them to the last-eight stage. Before the match, Soso was atop the charts for winning the most possession at this staging of the tournament as well as the most tackles. Clearly, his miss is the least of his worries and a little more rest for the midfielder will come handy for the UAE.
Both teams have now met twice at the U23 Asian Cup – in 2014 and yesterday – and both turned out to be 1-1 draws.
