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UAE beat Lebanon in the 2014 World Cup Qualifiers concluding match
The UAE Senior Football Team concluded their participation in the Asian 2014 World Cup Qualifiers with a 4-2 win over their visiting counterparts Lebanon in the 6th round encounter held this afternoon at Al Nahyan Stadium in Al Wahda Club in Abu Dhabi. The losers preceded to the last ten of the 4th stage despite of today's loss taking second position in the second group with 10 points, three points behind leaders South Korea who raised their tally to 13 points following their 2-0 win over Kuwait who have collected 8 points that see them in third place.
It was the first win for the UAE team since the beginning of the qualification matches to end their participation with only three points that classified them at the bottom of the table of Group "B".
The two teams demonstrated a strong performance in the opening minutes with the UAE team looked the dangerous side after creating two successive chances through Abdullah Jasim and Basheir Saeed.
The hosts were the first to find the back of the net only 20 minutes into play via Basheir Saeed off a dead ball that beat the Lebanese goalie who failed to control it. But Mahmoud Al Ali brought the match back into parity when he netted the equalizer three minutes later capitalizing on a perfect pass from Dubai Club pro. Abbas Atwa for Al Ali to collect the ball, faced the goalkeeper Ali Khusaif before sending it into the net. Al Ali was substituted afterwards a few minutes later due to injury. Ali Al Wihaibi made it 2-1 in the 38th minute, but Hassan Maatouq leveled the score before the end of the first session.
The performance of both teams dropped down after the interval and most of the play was concentrated on the midfield zone without any dangerous attacks.
Ismail Mater gave the UAE team the lead in the 69th minute with a severe long-range volley off a stand ball that went straight into the top of the left hand corner and Basheir Saeed concluded the rout with a left footer shot eleven minutes before the final whistle.
The two squads went on their attempts trying to add more goals, but things remained without any changes for the Australian referee to end the game with a 4-2 result in favour of the host team.