The United Arab Emirates missed out on the chance to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the AFC U23 Championship after being held to a 0-0 draw by Jordan at the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium yesterday.
Victory would have taken the Emiratis into the next round following on from Australia’s 2-0 win over Vietnam earlier in the day, but with the points shared both the UAE and Jordan go into the final round of matches with their hopes of playing in the knockout rounds intact.
“This match was very tough. Both teams went into it with a huge spirit to win, taking into consideration the situation that both of us won our previous match,” said UAE assistant coach Noureddine Abidi.
“It meant a different calculation and strategy. We started strong and we had two good chances in the first half and if we had scored we would have been in a good situation, but apart from these two chances the game was very tactical.“For us it was a positive result as it brings us one step closer to the qualification. Everything is in our hands and in the next game we have to win in order to qualify.”
The Emirates started brightly with Mohamed Al Akberi seeing his effort cleared by Jordanian goalkeeper Noureddin Bani Atteyah in the fifth minute while Sultan Saif should have done better four minutes later when he was put in on goal thanks to Al Akberi’s perfectly flighted centre, only to miss-hit his attempt.
As the teams settled down, though, the game developed into a midfield tussle with neither team managing to assert control until Abdullah Ali pulled the trigger on a well-struck effort from the edge of the Jordanian penalty area, only to see the ball go just wide of Atteyah’s left post.
The second half picked up where the opening period left off, with neither side creating much in the final third of the field before Yousif Saeed sent his low, curling free kick wide of the Jordanian goal in the 50th minute.
Jordan finally eked out their first goal scoring opportunity of the game just after the hour mark when Ehsan Haddad’s attempt from a tight angle was only good enough to find the side netting.
In the 67th minute, though, UAE goalkeeper Mohammed Busanda was on hand to rescue his side, diving to his right to push away Baha Faisal’s goal-bound shot as the Jordanians threatened on the break.
Substitute Ahmed Al Hashmi threatened for the Emirates 16 minutes from time when he surged through midfield before firing off an effort that was just off target, but as time ran out neither side was capable of breaking the deadlock, denying the UAE the chance to guarantee their progress to the quarter-finals.
“The match was very tactical. Both teams were very cautious, they didn’t look to win or lose,” said Jordan coach Jamal Ahmad. “We were very cautious and looking at the strength of the opposition.