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Chile beats UAE 2 ­– 0 in international friendly game

The UAE National Football Squad lost to Chile 2 - 0 in their first international friendly encounter, played on the evening of Saturday, October 9 at Zayed Sports City. The visiting team, who were a part of the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa, scored their two goals before the break. Saudi coach Khalil Jalal pointed for a penalty when defender Mahmoud Khamis fouled Hernandez inside the box, and teammate Roberto Ceresedan made no mistake when converting the ball home, giving his side an early lead only five minutes from the start. The UAE team rallied and pressed hard after the visitors' goal, looking for an equalizer, but failed to produce goals. Later on, the Chilean team made a fast counter attack that saw Pedro Morales facing UAE goalkeeper Majid Nasir, before sending a strong shot into the net to make the score 2 - 0.

Stretchko Katanec played the game, missing the efforts of some key players currently joining the U19 national team, who are struggling to qualify for the golden square of the Asian competitions in China, along with those who are preparing with the Olympic team in a the camp organised in Al Ain, prior to their participation in the Asian games scheduled in Guangzhou, China from November 7 to 27. Katanec fielded Majed Nasir as goalkeeper, Yousuf jabber, Faris Juma'a, Waleed Abbass and Khalid Sabeel ran in the defense line with Subait Khatir, and Yasir Mattar, Mahmoud Khamis and Fahad Masaood worked in the midfield, while Esmail Mattar supported the lone striker Faisal Khalil from behind. Esmail Mattar could not complete the game due to injury, and left the pitch in the 29th minute. He was shortly followed by Subait Khatir, who was substituted for the same reason. The coach gave an opportunity to many players to feature in this big match. Chilean coach Marcelo Beilsa, also former coach of Argentina, made some changes during the game.

Before leaving the match grounds, Subait Khatir fired a rocket-like volley but unfortunately, the ball bounced off the bar. Faisal Khalil also came close to a score before the break, but his header hit the upwards right. In the dying minutes, Mohammed Fawzi was to reduce the score when he found himself close to visiting custodian Luis Marin, but also failed to score from a short distance as he sent the ball straight into the goalkeeper's hands.

The UAE squad will conclude their warm-up camp with a second international friendly match when they face Angola on Tuesday at the same venue.