The Whites vow to fight till the very last moment
abu dhabi — The UAE players are upbeat about their chances against Kyrgyzstan in the AFC Asian Cup Round 16 match at Zayed Sports City Stadium on Monday.
The ‘Whites’ realise the expectations of a whole nation are on them to win the title at home and create history. They have taken three steps and fourth one comes in form of Kyrgyzstan.
Central midfielder Majed Hassan said the team spirit and morale was high.
“We respect our opponents a lot. We congratulate them for qualifying for the first time. We know it will be difficult game but we are ready for them. All 23 players stand united. We are all fully focused on Kyrgyzstan. We promise our fans that we will fight till the last moment. Our fans are our biggest strength,” Hassan said ahead of the match.
Ali Salmeen, who coordinated well with Hassan in the last game against Thailand, said all the players were determined to give their best for the country.
“We are all solely concentrating on Kyrgyzstan. We have to win and enter the quarterfinals. We have to keep our hopes alive of winning the title at home and in front of our fans. The mood in the camp is very positive and promising. We will not spare any efforts. We will do everything to further enhance country’s name. We need full support of our fans. We want them to stand behind us,” Salmeen said.
Bandar Al Ahbabi said the players should not be complacent against Kyrgyzstan, who qualified as one of the best the third-placed teams but not before close encounters versus South Korea and China close and thrashing the Philippines.
“We should never underestimate them. It doesn’t matter if they are playing for the first time. They played excellently in previous games. They scored thrice in their last game (against the Philippines). We have to take them very seriously. We are all ready for the encounter and aim for nothing but a win. We want to continue our journey to lift the historic title at home.”