UAE boss Mahdi admits there is work to be done

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  • Far from perfect: Mahdi Ali gives his assessment following the draw with Australia.

    The UAE will be working hard to improve their finishing after secur­ing a fourth-consecutive draw in last night’s meeting with Australia, according to coach Mahdi Ali.

    The Whites rarely threatened on a night of few chances for both teams. This result ensured they have only scored one goal in those matches.

    “I think it was a good game, esp-ecially as Australia are a very well organised team who had a great World Cup,” Ali said.

    “We know that our players are playing a very tight schedule in the Arabian Gulf League. Today, they looked a bit tired.

    “We had some easy chances to score but didn’t. We have to work harder and correct many things to prepare the team for the Gulf Cup.”

    Injured quartet Omar Abdulrah­man, Ismail Matar, Majed Hassan and Walid Abbas will miss Tues­day’s friendly against Uzbekistan at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, but all should be fit for November’s Gulf Cup.

    Meanwhile, Australia coach Ange Postecoglou believes the UAE will be “a tough team to beat” for any side that faces them in January’s Asian Cup.

    He said: “We knew it would be a tough game. The UAE have been very consistent in their form rec-ently.

    “They are very settled and stable. The familiarity in their team was lacking in ours.

    “They will be a tough team to beat in January.”

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