The UAE Olympic national team held North Korea to a goalless draw and made it into the last eight of the ongoing AFC U-22 Cup finals at Al Seeb Stadium here Today. The Whites finished second behind Group-B pace setters Syria with five points from two draws and a win in three group stage starts. The Syrians beat hapless Yemen 1-0 and topped the standings list with seven points.
The UAE head coach Ali Ebrahim started with keeper Ahmed Shambiah, Khalid Sirwashi, Saif Khalfan, Ali Salmeen, Walid Amber, Ahmed Burman, Salim Rashid, Mohain Khalifa, Yousuf Saeed, Omer Jumaa and Abdul Salam Mohammed.
However, after the careful start, the Koreans began to show aggressive intentions, but the cohesive UAE defence line blocked all their attempts to attack from the flanks and the centre of the field. The Koreans have also squandered at least two scoring opportunities in the 3rd and 4th minutes respectively.
UAE striker Walid Amber retaliated to the early threat with a beautiful long range shot in the 5th minute, but his effort went few inches past the right pole. Five minutes later, Omer Jumaa operated from the left flank and sent a long range shot that courageously saved by the Korean keeper before he again saved Yousuf Saeed’s rebound into a corner.
UAE head coach Ali Ebrahim interfered in the 26th minute by sending in Faraj Jumaa to replace Ahmed Jumaa Rabie in a clear defensive strategy which gave the opponents the upper hand in the midfield. Later Ebrahim enhanced his defensive tactics with Naief Salim who substituted Mohain Khalifa and replaced Walid Amber with Salim Al Mansouri. The UAE players retreated to the rear flank to defend the advantageous draw which took them to the last eight and sent the Koreans out of contention.
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