There is no risk of the UAE’s mercilless mauling of Malaysia leading to overconfidence about Tuesday’s difficult trip to Palestine, according to hat-trick hero Ali Mabkhout.
The Whites continued their flawless opening to 2018 World Cup qualifying on Thursday as they secured a remarkable 10-0 victory against the hapless visitors to Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.
Their first real test of the Asian Football Confederation second round lies ahead next week on the West Bank, against rivals for a top-two spot.
“It will give us more confidence, but that doesn’t mean we’re the best team in the group,” Al Jazira front man Mabkhout said. “We have not achieved anything yet.
“We must focus on all the games. We have difficult games in the future, but we’ll be ready for all of them and this game will help.”
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The meeting at Faisal Al Husseini Stadium will be a historic one, being the first competitive tie to be played by 119th-ranked Palestine in their homeland.
“Palestine is a different challenge [to Malaysia], so we have to concentrate fully on that,” UAE boss Mahdi Ali said. “It is the first official match for them in their own country, so that will provide extra motivation – we need to be 100 per cent prepared.”
Meanwhile, Dollah Salleh has called time on his miserable year-long spell in charge of Malaysia after their record UAE loss. Saleh, 51, announced the news as his shellshocked side returned to Kuala Lumpur on Friday ahead of Tuesday’s meeting with Saudi Arabia.
