Football is about planning to win: UAE coach Bauza
al ain — Beating four-time World Cup participants Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night showed the UAE have a bright future, said coach Edgardo Bauza.
The Argentinian said his coaching staff will continue to work towards creating a winning mentality. “I plan each game to win and am really happy. They said it’s been 10 years since the team hadn’t beaten Saudi Arabia so I’m pleased. This is what I work for – to win.
“We are going to work to win the next game too against Iraq. Football is about planning to win. After that game, we have to sit down and plan for what comes next — the Asian Cup, what happens with the Gulf Cup we don’t know exactly what will happen. But the team needs to keep working, this match will give us a lift, nothing more,” he said during the post-match press conference in Al Ain.
Bauza said that despite a win over Iraq, qualification will be difficult. “We depend on other results but we will give it a try to win the game and then see how the other results go and see if we can reach the playoffs.”
The UAE after the win remain on fourth spot with 13 points behind Saudi Arabia and Australia (both at 16 points) and Japan (17 points) in Group B of Asia qualifiers.
Talking about the stunning victory at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, he said the coaching staff has inculcated a culture of nationalism.
“We simply made them understand they are representing the Emirates football and it is very big responsibility. We’ve taken on this challenge. We are representing the Emirati football and have to give everything. And anyone who doesn’t give everything will not play and they know this,” the coach said as aspects the coaching staff worked on between draw against Thailand and a win over Saudi Arabia.
Bauza said it was the aggressive attitude of the players which saw the team through in a difficult match. Praising his back-four, he said: “From the tactical side, the team defended very well and shut down all the routes to goal apart from down the wings where it got tricky at times but practically they had no clear shot on goal.”
He noted gems of goals by Ahmad Khalil and Ali Mabkhout and said with time they will improve further.
“We had two very dangerous attackers and they showed that by scoring two high quality goals. The little time we worked together we did a good job. With the passage of time and working together we can improve even further.”
Giving an update on Omar Abdulrahman, the coach said, the star is in Spain for treatment.
“He was injured and had no chance of playing. We are in the hands of the doctor. We are waiting for him to come back (from Spain) to see how he is getting on. We have other problems with three players suspended.”
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia coach Bert van Marwijk said the loss had left the team with a “very little chance” of qualification.
“We are dependent on Japan and Australia. We must win, that is the only little chance we have,” he said as the No. 1 and No. 3 clash in Saitama Stadium on Thursday evening.
He said his players were nervous and it helped the UAE get an upper hand at the start.
“When you don’t have that experience the players can become nervous. At 1-1 we had our best spell, we played possession game and we created chances. Only today we didn’t score,” the coach added.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com