Attacking midfielder Mohamed Abdulrahman has challenged his UAE team-mates to use their final King’s Cup match as a learning experience towards a brighter future.
The Whites wind up this four-team annual tournament in Bangkok against Gabon on Sunday. Both sides lost their opening games on Thursday – the Africans, without Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang because of a family bereavement, lost on penalties to hosts Thailand and their next opponents were edged 2-1 by Slovakia.
Coach Alberto Zaccheroni is now likely to unleash prospects such as Al Nasr’s Jassem Yaqoub and Al Wahda’s Mohamed Al Akbari at Rajamangala National Stadium.
With Omar Abdulrahman and Ali Mabkhout absent because of disciplinary issues, brother Mohamed is urging the Whites to take on board as much as they can ahead of January 2019’s Asian Cup on home soil.
“Participation in the King’s Cup is very useful,” said the 29-year-old Al Ain utility man ahead of this third-place play-off. “This is especially true for the technical staff, who will gain more knowledge of the players.
“Gabon is one of the strongest teams from Africa, but our team has strong desires to win.”
Gabon also failed to make World Cup 2018. Despite boasting players like Southampton battler Mario Lemina, they are ranked 16 places lower by FIFA in 95th.
“I believe that for the game to secure the third place for this tournament against the UAE, our players will play better,” said coach Jose Antonio Camacho.
“Gabon will try our best in this game.”
