News Center

UAE draw 2-2 with hosts India to secure a berth in the group stage

The UAE National Football Team secured themselves a berth in the group stage  of the Asian qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil after being held by their counterpart India to a 2-2 draw in their away match played this evening, Thursday July 28th at 5:30pm UAE timing, at Nehru Stadium in the Indian capital New Delhi. Mohammad Al Shehhy and Ali Al Wihaibi scored for the winners in the 16th and 71st minutes and Je Je and his teammate singh scored for the home team  in the 73rd and 92nd minutes .

The UAE squad defeated their competitors 3-0 in their first leg match scored by Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammad Al Shehhy and Ismail Al Hamadi.

The two teams played in front a big mass of Indian spectators who cheered up their National Team tremendously through the entire match time. The performance of the players was affected by the continuous heavy rains which covered the whole pitch and hindered the movement of the players and forced the referee Basheir Abdul Malik from Singapore to delay the game for a few minutes.

The UAE Slovenian coach Katanec started the match with a lineup which included: goalkeeper Ali Khusaif, Hamdan Al Kamali, Waleed Abbas, Yousuf Jaber, Khalid Sabeel, Amer Abdul Rahman, Amer Mubarak, Mohammad Al Shehhy, Ali Al Wihaibi, Ismail Al Hammadi and Ahmad Khalil.

The home team played without their goalkeeper Subrata Paul and defender Debrata Roy who were given marching orders in the first leg encounter played last Saturday at Khalifa Stadium in Al Ain.

The Indian players are adapted to play under rainy weathers and this gave them an advantage to put more pressure on the visiting team's defense, but failed to score. Ahmad Khalil came close to put UAE into the lead when he sent a strong volley off a stand ball that deflected by the Indian goalie over the cross bar for a corner in the 16th minute. Khalil tried to find the back of the net off two long-range shots, but both missed the target. But five minutes before the break, he collected the ball, ran down the left flank before switching a perfect cross into the six yard area for the unmarked Mohammed ALShehhy to head it home to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Amer Abdul Rahman squandered a golden sitter afterwards when he shot wide from a close-range three minutes later to end the first session with a 1-0 win for the visiting team.

The two squads continued their attempts in the second half looking for more goals but their players squandered most of the opportunities that came their way. Ali Al Wihaibi made it 2-0 in the 71st minute and the Indian player Je Je reduced the deficit two minutes later before Singh netted the equalizer to end the game with a 2-2 draw.

Referees from Singapore officiated the match including referee Basheir Abdul Malik and his assistants Tang Yomon (first assistant), Wali Chezo (second assistant), and Liu Tiham fourth referee.

On the other hand the UAE mission is due to fly directly after the match and expected to arrive to Dubai International Air Port on Friday at 6am.