UAE lose to Kuwait in warm-up game
DUBAI — The UAE, preparing to host the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, fell to a surprise 2-0 to Kuwait in a pretournament international friendly on Friday night, according to a report on the Asian Football Confederation website.
Kuwait claimed victory through goals from Bader Al Mutawa and Omar Beitar in the 45th and 86th minutes respectively.
Hosts UAE will face Bahrain, India and Thailand in Group A in the Asian Cup.
The UAE reached the semifinals in the 2015 edition of the tournament in Australia.
Meanwhile, Vital Borkelman’s Jordan came from a goal down to salvage a 1-1 draw with China PR at the Grand Hamad Stadium.
China, who lost 2-1 to Qatar in their previous friendly, went ahead in the 16th minute through Wu Xi’s effort, but their lead lasted only 20 minutes before Jordan found the equaliser with Musa Al Tamaari finding the back of the net.
Despite their best attempts, both teams couldn’t break the deadlock and settled for a tie.
In the continental showpiece that is set to begin on January 5, China are in Group C with twotime champions Korea Republic, Kyrgyz Republic and Philippines, while Jordan are with title holders Australia, Palestine and Syria in Group B.
Iraq scored their second win this month after beating Palestine 1-0 at the Qatar SC Stadium.
Palestine came into the match with full of confidence, having held Islamic Republic of Iran to a 1-1 draw in their last friendly, but failed to find the back of the net against Iraq.
Srecko Katanec’s side, who beat China 2-1 on Monday, broke the stalemate a minute after the break through Humam Tariq and held on to their advantage to seal the win.
Iraq are in Group D of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 with Iran, Vietnam and Yemen.