Mahdi Ali: 'Football doesn't believe in history'

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  • UAE boss Mahdi Ali has warned his players that history will count for nothing as they gun for a third-successive win against heavyweights Japan which would reignite their stuttering campaign to make World Cup 2018.

    The Whites currently sit one place outside the progression spots in fourth, with the third-and-final round poised at the halfway mark.

    But if critical Group B fixtures go badly against the Samurai Blue tonight at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium and Tuesday’s trip to another perennial participant in Australia, they could be left with too much ground to make up to those sides and Saudi Arabia in the chase to secure a second-ever entry after their debut at World Cup 1990.

    Indomitable defending and profligate finishing has defined the last two clashes between Thursday’s opponents, from which the ‘Golden Generation’ emerged with famous victories at the start of this phase and the 2015 Asian Cup’s quarter-finals.

    And speaking in front of more than 100 journalists at a packed press conference on Tuesday, Ali insisted hard work rather than previous results will define the outcome of this high-pressure clash.

    “Football doesn’t believe about history, what happened in the previous game is in the past,” said the 51-year-old, who has faced extreme scrutiny since October’s execrable 3-0 defeat in Saudi.

    “Football only knows one language: how prepared you are, how strong you are on the pitch, how much effort you give in the game.

    “And I think we always play our football, always try to work hard whether in training or on the pitch. And that makes the difference in the team.”

    September’s shock 2-1 triumph for the UAE in Saitama was defined not only by Al Ahli striker Ahmed Khalil’s set-piece brace, but an inexplicable decision to deny substitute Takuma Asano a late leveler despite goalkeeper Khalid Essa clearly clawing his shot away from behind the line.

    This decision – which generated a formal protest by the Japanese Football Federation – still irked irascible visiting coach Vahid Halilhodzic when quizzed about both avoiding another surprise and the appointment of Uzbekistani referee Ravshan Irmatov for this match in the Garden City.

    The ex-Paris Saint-Germain and Al Ittihad supremo replied: “I will want to avoid bad refereeing. Is that understood?”

    “I don’t like to speak so much about referees, but I will want to trust this referee. We are concentrating to play this great UAE team, that has high qualities. I hope we will have the correct refereeing that this World Cup qualifier deserves.”

    Japan will definitely be without injured skipper and Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Makoto Hasebe because of knee surgery.

    For the UAE, they are sweating on the results of late fitness tests for Khalil and dominant Al Ain centre-back Ismail Ahmed.

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