UAE train at Zayed Sports City Stadium ahead of AFC Asian Cup opener
United Arab Emirates (UAE) head coach Alberto Zaccheroni and forward Ismail Matar is looking ahead to the country's opening fixture of their home tournament - the 2019 AFC Asian Cup - against Bahrain.
The UAE will hope to go one better than when they last hosted the tournament back in 1996 - they fell at the final hurdle and lost to Saudi Arabia on penalties. They also placed third in the last edition of the AFC Asian Cup, held in Australia in 2015.
Zaccheroni, who led Japan to AFC Asian Cup success in 2011, will hope to lead hosts UAE to the title this time around. The 65-year-old Italian has been in charge of the country's national team since October 2017 and said the UAE are confident of a "good start" against Bahrain on Saturday.
"The preparations of the UAE team have gone very well. We undertook some training sessions and camps both inside and outside the UAE. We received all of the support we needed from the national team's management. We faced some technical issues, as everyone knows. There were some injuries with certain UAE players, but that shouldn't be an obstacle. We believe that this UAE team are prepared for a good start for the first game against Bahrain," he said.
Ismail Matar, a UAE forward, said: "Certainly, in our last participation in the Asian Cup, we came out of it positively. We came third in Australia. Now with this tournament in the UAE, we have the support of the public and the land. I hope we can benefit from these factors. We will try to create a better picture, than the one from 1996 (when the UAE last hosted the tournament and finished as runners-up). I hope we can draw on the support of the officials, media and all of the fans. Our aim is to honor the United Arab Emirates."
"Yes, the performance of the teams has changed a lot from the old format of the Asian Cup, which took place in Qatar in 2011. We have noticed that change during the 2018 World Cup in Russia. We have seen an improvement in fitness and in the tactics of Asian teams - the change has been significant. There will be balance in the games - a fine line between victory and defeat. Small details will determine the final result," Zaccheroni added.
India and Thailand make up the other two teams in Group A.
(Source: AP)
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