The UAE have been strengthened by the defeat to Jordan and intend to use the lessons learned to see off Vietnam in Friday’s Asian Games round of 16 clash, according to captain Saeed Al Kathiri.
Ali Ibrahim’s hotly-tipped team, comprising of 17 under-23 and three over-age players, sunk to a shock 1-0 loss to The Chivalrous in their final Group G match but progressed after India fell to the same opponents.
The Whites will need to get back to winning ways at Gyeonggi’s Hwaseong Stadium if they are to stand any chance of bettering their silver-medal performance at the previous tournament four years ago.
“We feel good, everybody wants to fight for a great chance to qualify,” Al Wasl striker Al Kathiri said. “Inshallah, we make it to the next round.
“Sometimes, when something bad happens in your life it can be for the good and you correct it. We are still in the tournament despite the defeat to Jordan. We learned a lesson in that match that we can use against Vietnam.”
The UAE burst out of the traps in their opening game, thrashing India 5-0 thanks to a hat-trick from Al Kathiri.
That result seemed to justify their tag as one of the pre-tournament favourites. However, they were unable to mount a reply against Jordan after falling behind in only the seventh minute.
The UAE now face south-east Asian opposition in a Vietnam side that beat Kyrgyzstan and World Cup finalists Iran on their way to topping Group H with maximum points.
Al Kathiri insisted his team-mates were well prepared for the upcoming challenge.
He said: “Vietnam play a fast game in a system that coach Ali Ibrahim has told us is like playing Japan or South Korea. We have to be ready for that, and concentrate on playing against it in our own system. Inshallah, it goes well.
“I wish to play well and that we qualify. I scored a hat-trick in the first game, and you want to repeat that, but I want more for the team to do well.”
Despite storming their section, Vietnam coach Toshiya Miura was disappointed after edging past Kyrgyzstan on Monday thanks to a Vu Minh Tuan penalty.
“We’ve got the three points but the performance is not convincing for me,” he said. “Kyrgyzstan provided a big game and we failed to focus during the game and wasted a lot. We recorded the only goal from the penalty spot and did not offer the performance expected.”
FIXTURES
Thursday
12:00 P alestine v Japan
12:00 Jordan v Kyrgyzstan
15:00 South Korea v Hong Kong
15:00 Thailand v China
Friday
11:00 Iraq v Tajikistan
11:00 Vietnam v UAE
15:00 North Korea v Indonesia
15:00 Uzbekistan v Saudi Arabia