Head coach Zlatko Dalić was delighted after the UAE thrashed Bahrain 3-0 on Sunday to storm into the semifinal of the Gulf Cup in Jeddah.
The UAE produced a superb exhibition of attacking football to put the defending champions to the sword at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium.
After Ousmane scored the first goal in the 30th minute, the UAE dominated the Group B match with their midfield superiority.
Guilherme (66th minute) and Ali Saleh (88th minute) then found the back of the net in the second half as Bahrain struggled to cope with the UAE’s passing range and interplay in the final third.
Having won their first game 4-0 against Yemen on Thursday, the UAE have now grabbed the top spot in Group B with six points from two matches.
“We know that Bahrain came to defend their title, a team with great experience and a distinguished coach (Dragan Talajić), and we did not expect to score three goals,” the UAE’s Croatian head coach Dalić was quoted as saying by goal.com.
Talajić, Dalić’s compatriot, refused to blame the players after Bahrain’s embarrassing defeat.
“I take responsibility for everything, because I am the one who chooses the players who take part. When we win, the players are the heroes and I stand behind them, and when bad things happen, as has happened now, I stand in front of them, and everyone can blame me,” the Croat said.
Two-time Asian champions Qatar, which beat Yemen 1-0 in the other Group B match of the night, have also collected six points from the same number of games.
But the UAE have raced to the top spot on the back of their better goal-scoring record.
On Saturday, hosts Saudi Arabia thrashed Oman 3-0 and Iraq beat Kuwait 3-2 in a five-goal thriller.
The top two teams in each group of this eight-team regional tournament will advance to the semifinals.
Both the semifinals will be played on October 3, while the final is scheduled for October 6.
As Bahrain and Yemen have already been eliminated from the semifinal race in Group B, the UAE’s final game against Qatar on September 30 will determine the group winner.
The UAE, who won the tournament in 2007 and 2013, will hope to top Group B and avoid hosts Saudi Arabia in the semifinals.
But their superb form in the first two games has already raised expectations among fans as the team under new head coach Dalić is beginning to play an attractive style of football.
Dalić, who famously took Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final and also helped his native country reach the semifinals in Qatar 2022, will hope to earn a trophy for the UAE in his first tournament as manager.
There is still a long way to go, but with seven goals from two matches, three of which came against defending champions Bahrain, the UAE have every right to feel confident about making a serious challenge for the title in Jeddah.
“If we want to reach the final, we have to be ready for any team whatsoever,” Dalić said when asked about the final group-stage game against Qatar.
Meanwhile, the already-qualified Saudi Arabia (six points from two matches) need only a draw against second-placed Iraq (four points from two games) in their final Group A game on September 29 to win Group A.
A draw will be enough for Iraq to beat Oman (one point from two matches) for the second semifinal spot in Group A.
Source: Khaleej Times