(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Habib fardan slots home the winner in concluding european tour match on a high note.action during the uae versus georgia friendly match at the meyarin stadium in geneva on tuesday. — supplied photo
the uae senior football national team returned to the winning ways with a narrow 1-0 victory over georgia at the des arberes in meyarin stadium in geneva on tuesday to conclude their current european tour on a high note.
habib fardan sloted in the winner with a lovely header making the best of omer abdul rahman’s perfect free kick in the 74th minute of the closely contested clash. uae went down fighting to armenia in the first of the nine proposed friendlies earlier in the week.
the whites are eyeing glory in the gulf cup (khaliji 22) to defend their title which they have won two years ago in bahrain and claim a third gulf cup silverware in saudi arabia during the month of november before they launch their campaign to make their first-ever continental success in the afc asian cup finals in australia in january 2015.
uae head coach mahdi ali started with ’keeper ali khusaif walid abbas ismail ahmed mohammed ahmed mohammed fawzi khamis ismail habib fardan omer abdul rahman ismail al hammadi ali mabkhout and ahmed khalil. but he made many changes after the break by sending in majid hassan to replace ali mabkhout mahmoud khamis replaced walid abbas yousuf saeed took the place of ahmed khalil and the upcoming star ahmed rabie substituted the goal scorer habib fardan.
and apart from the splendid performance throughout the 90 minutes the uae keeper ali khusaif is of the opinion that the victory came in time to motivate the players to do more in the upcoming outings.
“it’s great to conclude the training camp with a win. this victory is very crucial for our campaign and we needed it. i know the players have more to show but we have to be patient and take it a step by step” he said.
“the tour was useful and the two european teams against which we have played are strong enough to test our ability. they play modern european football and their players are tactically mature and well-built. i would like to thank my colleagues for the effort.
sharjah brilliant teenager ahmed rabie and al jazira’s yousuf saeed who are making international debut reiterated that joining the squad is a big jump and hopefully they would be able to show the best of them.
“i was too much worried when i have stepped in but my colleagues noticed that i was not able to pull myself together have been always and did everything to my make it easy for me” he said.
the 18-year-old is a talented and skilled player and the head coach mahdi ali has picked him from the u-19 squad while preparing for the afc u-19 cup in myanmar.
yousuf saeed who has substituted ahmed khalill in the second half said he has benefited a lot from the training camp and delighted to play alongside ali mabkhout and ahmed khalil in the front line.
meanwhile the delegation returned home on wednesday night and set to gather again in mid-august to play three friendlies against norway in oslo in august 27 belgium in brussels on september 4 and morocco in france four days later. elsewhere uae midfielder omer abdul rahman headed for paris to carry out some medical tests.
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