I never doubted our ability to qualify, says Eisa
DUBAI: Fans at the opening match of the FIFA Club World Cup 2018 between UAE side Al Ain and New Zealand’s Team Wellington certainly got a thrilling game.
When the visitors surged into a three-goal lead, many felt the host nation’s representatives were all but eliminated. However, the neversay-die attitude of Al Ain’s players turned the game around and set up a penalty shoot-out.
Once a game goes to penalties, the goalkeeper becomes the most important person on the pitch, often playing an even more decisive role than the penalty takers.
And so it was the case with Al Ain shot-stopper Khalid Eisa, who produced a superb save late in the second half to keep his side in the game, then stopped two penalties in the shoot-out to help his side progress to the next round.
Immediately after Wednesday’s win, he said:
“It’s because this is a World Cup, a global tournament, not an ordinary competition that despite being under the huge pressure I managed to perform well.”
“In these kinds of tournaments, you simply have to be at your best. We must perform well and make sacrifices, as you might only get to play in such tournaments once in a lifetime. “Through our performance, we wanted to show the world that UAE football has come on significantly. That’s why we never gave up hope and kept going until we drew and finally prevailed in the shoot-out.”
Despite the UAE Pro-league champions going three goals down, Eisa never stopped encouraging his team-mates. Even as the goals went in, he never showed any sign of defeat or surrender.
“I never doubted our ability to go through,” he said.
“Even when they scored the third goal, I was sure we could pull off a comeback and qualify. I saw it in the eyes of the players. I felt they wanted to send a message to the whole world to prove that we weren’t just playing because we were from the host country and UAE champions. “We wanted to show that, just like the other teams, we too are champions and can go far in the competition.”
Al Ain now need to refocus and immediately prepare for an even tougher assignment on Saturday: an all-arab clash against Esperance of Tunisia, who beat Egypt’s Al Ahly to win this year’s CAF Champions League, in the second round.