Diligent new UAE coach Edgardo Bauza has vowed to build from the back as he tries to plug the gaps in his porous team ahead of next week’s pressurised competitive debut in Thailand.
Bauza, 59, has been working meticulously on the training pitch with a 25-man squad since they landed in Bangkok on Thursday. These efforts are geared to provide the Whites with a solid platform to gain the win at Rajamangala National Stadium on Tuesday required to resuscitate dying hope of making World Cup 2018.
His latest charges, predictably, had no trouble blasting away Laos 4-0 in a friendly triumph on Wednesday in Malaysia, lethal Al Jazira front man Ali Mabkhout and Al Ahli forward Ahmed Khalil – the 15-goal second-top scorer in qualifying – among those getting on the scoresheet. But with 10 strikes conceded in seven preceding Group B fixtures under paternal predecessor Mahdi Ali, the ex-Argentina centre-back has characteristically honed in on a desire to tighten things up.
“During the time I spent with the players, I tried to organise the team better and I focused more on the defensive line and reorganising it,” said Bauza, who was dismissed by La Albiceleste in April after eight underwhelming matches in charge. “The more the team is organised and the stronger the defence, the better the results are and the greater the safety in official matches.
“We have to work more during the remaining days before the match against Thailand because it will not be an easy game. I am happy with the players’ response.
منتخبنا الوطني يواصل تدريباته في بانكوك ضمن تحضيراته لمباراة تايلند الرسمية في 13 من الشهر الجاري ضمن تصفيات مونديال روسيا 2018 #كلنا_الأبيض pic.twitter.com/Kot3WrvZFT
— uaefa (@uaefa_ae) June 9, 2017
“We have a few days left before the game, so we have to double the work and instructions for the players until we get to the ideal situation that we have to play.”
El Paton has taken over a nation who are fourth with three games left in the third-and-final round, one place and seven points outside the advancement spots in their section.
His next test comes against an opponent for whom Serbian Milovan Rajevac, 63, lost his opening friendly 2-0 against Uzbekistan last Friday. The War Elephants are already eliminated after gaining just one point in seven games.
Victory will see the Whites guarantee to close to within four points of Saudi Arabia and Australia, who sit inside the advancement spots. The latter prevailed 3-2 on Thursday when the sides met in Adelaide.
Fixture and result
June 7 – Friendly
UAE 4-0 Laos
June 13 – World Cup 2018 qualifier
16:00 Thailand v UAE
Updated UAE squad
Majed Nasser, Walid Abbas, Abdelaziz Sanqour, Khamis Esmail, Habib Fardan, Ahmed Khalil (Al Ahli); Khalid Essa, Mohanad Salem, Mohamed Ahmed, Ahmed Barman, Omar Abdulrahman (Al Ain); Khaled Al Senani, Mohammed Fawzi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout (Al Jazira); Mahmoud Khamis, Tariq Ahmed, Salem Saleh (Al Nasr); Hassan Ibrahim (Al Shabab); Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah); Hamdan Al Kamali, Khalid Bawazir, Ismail Matar, Tariq Ahmed, Mohamed Al Akbari (Al Wahda)
