UAE's lacklustre show against Iran upsets supporters

Gulfnews - The UAE's fans were worried as they saw their team lose the friendly match against Iran 2-0 on Friday.

Rasoul Khatibi scored Iran's first goal from the penalty spot in the last minute of the first half and Ebrahim Sadegi added the second, one minute into injury time.

The match was the last before the team's opener against Oman in the 18th Gulf Cup on January 17.

The team's performance was not assuring and it is one of their poorest display recently.

To add insult to injury it came only four days before their opener and most important match in the first round of the Gulf Cup.

The UAE fans panicked when they saw the UAE captain Mohammad Omar and their sweeper Basheer Saeed being carried out on stretchers after getting injured.

Head coach Bruno Metsu missed striker Faisal Khalil and wing back Hayder Allo Ali owing to slight injuries.

He started with Majid Nasir in goal. Adil Abdul Aziz, Basheer, Rashid Abdul Rahman and Fahad Masaood were in defence.

Hilal Saeed played pivot before being replaced at half time with Hassan Ali.

Abdul Rahim Jumaa played his free role in midfield while Khalid Darwish and Salem Khamis played behind the two strikers Esmail Mattar and Omar.

Early signs of lack of mutual understanding brought disaster. Majid failed to clear a backpass from Rashid and the custodian had to foul Iranian striker Reza Enayati inside the penalty area.

Referee Mohammad Omar awarded the visitors a correct penalty, only six minutes into play.

Majid turned from villain to hero as he saved the spotkick from Enayati but made two mistakes later on while leaving his line wrongly to intercept high balls and missing on both occasions.

Majid, to his credit, made two brilliant saves.

Wrong passes were a feature of the home team in the match and weak possession was also noticed especially from Khalid Darwish who almost lost all 50-50 balls.

Abdul Rahim made two scoring chances following fast moves on the right side but Iran's custodian Hassan Rodbarian saved both.