Marwijk unhappy with UAE display
dubai — UAE coach Bert van Marwijk cut a frustrating figure after seeing his team go down to Thailand in the joint AFC Asian Cup and World Cup Qualifier in Thailand on Tuesday night.
The Whites, who had won both their opening fixtures against Malaysia and Indonesia, lost 2-1 to the War Elephants.
The UAE relinquished their top spot and slipped to third in Group G behind Thailand and Vietnam, who have seven points each. The Whites, who are on six points, take on Vietnam away on November 14.
Marwijk was unhappy that his team conceded the lead after having done well to cancel out Thailand’s early lead.
“I’m not satisfied with the performance,” Marwijk said after the game.
“We should have got a goal especially from the opportunities that we had in the second half and towards the end of the game,” he added.
But the Dutchman gave credit where it was due and said that Thailand deserved the win.
“Thailand played really well and they deserved to win. They took the lead but I was very happy after Ali Mabkhout scored. But we couldn’t maintain the same intensity and I was frustrated that we conceded another goal. What frustrated me even more was that we couldn’t equalise again even though we had many chances,” said the 67-year-old.
Marwijk gave talisman Omar Abdulrahman his first start and the frizzy-haired playmaker was also handed the captain’s armband. But the 28-year-old didn’t play the full 90 minutes and was taken off on 72 minutes.
“I’m a big fan of Omar, who is one of the best players in Asia. I decided to give him a start because I thought he could make a big impact early on. But he was exhausted and I had to replace him and brought on Ahmed Khalil, especially at that stage of the game,” Marwijk explained.