Coach Alberto Zaccheroni labelled super-sub Ahmed Khalil as “one of the best attackers” on the continent after he shook off his injury nightmare to perform a second rescue job for the UAE at Asian Cup 2019.
Khalil, 27, smashed home a 103rd-minute penalty-kick to hand the hosts a 3-2 triumph against tournament-debutants Kyrgyzstan in the round of 16. This was the third, and final, time that they went ahead in a rollercoaster contest at a freezing Zayed Sport City on Monday.
The 2015 AFC Player of the Year had previously held his nerve – upon his 100th cap – from 12 yards in the 88th minute of January 5’s Group A opener with Bahrain to salvage a 1-1 draw. After more than a season blighted by recurring fitness problems, Zaccheroni hailed the Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club forward’s enduring impact.
“Khalil is a very good striker,” said the ex-AC Milan and Japan boss, who next leads his adopted nation out against holders Australia on Friday at Al Ain’s state-of-the-art Hazza bin Zayed Stadium. “He is one of the best attackers in Asia.
“As a coach, when I took over the UAE, Khalil was injured. He didn’t participate in any training sessions from the last season.
“He hadn’t participate before the Gulf Cup, wasn’t ready at 100 per cent.
“He was injured many times last year. He is a very good player and I count on him a lot.
“He does so much with the national team, compared to the club. We try to make use of him in the games.
“Every time he joins up, he scores a goal.”
Prior to the tournament’s kick-off, Khalil had last been available to feature in an official friendly for the UAE in September 11’s 3-0 triumph against Laos.
Against Kyrgyzstan, Al Wasl anchor man Khamis Esmail headed in from a 14th-minute corner. His poor tracking, however, soon allowed playmaker Mirlan Murzaev to round goalkeeper Khalid Essa and score.
Khalil’s routine rescue act 😓
— Matt Monaghan (@mattmonaghan360) January 21, 2019
Frustrations and regrets 🇰🇬
No dropping anchors ⚓️
Here's my report card after Ahmed Khalil was, again, spot on for the #UAE at #AsianCup2019.
They'll need to be much, much better against #GoSocceroos. Can they do it?https://t.co/zweCYSmezE pic.twitter.com/u5MjfiIZn9
2015 Asian Cup top scorer Ali Mabkhout moved onto three goals for this edition past the hour mark from a well-dispatched one-on-one. But substitute Tursunaly Rustamov headed in from a corner on 91 minutes to force extra time.
Mabkhout would then be pulled down by wing-back Bekzhan Sagynbaev for the critical penalty. There was still time, however, for Rustamov to become the third Krygzstan player to rattle the woodwork, past the 120-minute point.
Zaccheroni insisted that the UAE – who boasted 56-per-cent possession and 18 efforts to Kyrgyzstan’s 14 – made their own luck.
The 65-year-old stated: “Yes, we scored with a penalty. The same against Bahrain.
“Today, the UAE created some opportunities and scored goals. Our team was more aggressive and created lots of opportunities that were not all converted.
“We had many attacks, involving three attackers – Ali Mabkhout, Ismail Matar, Khalfan Mubarak. Also, Khalil was added to the attack in extra time.
“We already took the initiative and succeeded at the end.”
Zaccheroni was previously at the helm of the Japan side who defeated Australia 1-0 in extra time during 2011’s final.
🇦🇪 H E R O 🇦🇪#AsianCup2019 pic.twitter.com/BsyCTJxdnj
— #AsianCup2019 (@afcasiancup) January 21, 2019
He did not, however, know what to expect from imminent opponents who required a shootout to edge Uzbekistan, also on Monday.
“Australia, I do not know anything about them,” said Zaccheroni. “It’s been a long time since I watched them.
“We played almost 120 minutes and Australia did the same.”
Only 17,784 supporters flocked into the 45,000-capacity ZSC for the Kyrgyzstan clash.
Rather than apathy, Zaccheroni chose to blame the chilly weather for the low turnout.
He said: “I agree that the stadium wasn’t completely full. But there were enough fans.
“We’ve seen enough support. It wasn’t full maybe because it is cold and some fans prefer to watch the game on TV.
“The first training camp after I took hold of the UAE team, there were no fans there. But in the Gulf Cup and other games, we saw lots of fans.”
The UAE finished third under Mahdi Ali at the 2015 edition. They then failed to make World Cup 2018.
