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The UAE Olympic Team lose Asian Gold medal

The UAE Olympic Football Team failed to win the golden medal after they lost to their counterparts Japan with a solitary goal in the final match of the 16th Asian games played this afternoon Thursday November 25th at Tianhe stadium in Guangzhou city in China. The UAE squad, who bagged the silver medal, were the better side after controlling the major parts of the game while their opponents relied mostly on counter-attacks in a bid to score an early goal. The losers created a number of chances mainly before the break through Ahmad Ali and Ziyab Awana whose close-range shot rebounded twice off the cross bar. Both teams failed to benefit from the handful of chances that came their way mainly in the first half which ended in a goalless draw.

The two squads continued their fierce struggle in the second half looking for the first goal. The coaches of the two competing teams made a number of substitutes to give their players additional strength. The UAE team put more pressure on their rivals' defense who stood solid and spoiled all their rivals' attempts. But the Japanese rare attacks were soon rewarded when the unmarked Defender Yuki Saneto stepped forward and went deep on the right flank, received a perfect cross pass from his teammate Kensuke Nagai to drive the ball home with a low volley just to the right hand side of goalkeeper Ali Khusaif scoring the all-important goal of the match in the 73rd.

The Japanese retreated to their back line after taking the lead to defend their narrow deficit with the UAE exerting more efforts trying to level the game. Their coach Mehdi Ali pulled out the injured striker Ahmad Khalil and midfielder Ziyab Awana to field in Saeed Al Katheri and Mohammed Al Shihy and the latest could not continue due to a sudden injury and he was soon replaced by Haboosh Saleh.

In spite of the continuous attacks launched by the losers' players, they failed to score the equalizer. The winners came close to add the second goal in three occasions, but the UAE goalie Ali Khusaif saved all their attempts brilliantly.

In the concluding ceremony, Japan were crowned champions to win the trophy and the gold medal, UAE won the silver medal whereas South Korea bagged the bronze following their 4-3 victory over Iran in the play off match.