5 reasons that prevented “Al-Abyad” from winning over Qatar

The first national football team came out with a draw that resembled the taste of loss in the match that brought it together with its Qatari counterpart, the day before yesterday, at the beginning of its journey in the Arabian Gulf Cup (Gulf 26) currently being held in Kuwait, as the numbers and statistics for the confrontation indicate that “Al-Abyad” was The better side, and that victory was within reach if the players took advantage of the opportunities they had, especially in the first half.

The cards for the first group are now open and all possibilities exist, especially after Kuwait and Oman tied 1-1 also in the same group, as the four teams: UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman were equal in points and goals scored and received.

The numbers for the match were biased in favor of the Emirati team, which controlled the course of the game by 61%, compared to only 39% for the Qatari team. It also had a superior number of attempts on goal with 13 attempts, compared to only two attempts by Al-Annabi. “Al-Abyad” was not satisfied with these numbers, but also excelled in terms of corner kicks, as it received nine kicks compared to only one for the Qatari team, while its number of passes reached 458 passes, compared to 301 passes for the Qatari team.

Emirates Today monitors five factors that prevented the national team from achieving an ideal start in the Gulf Cup Championship.

1 double start

“Al-Abyad” entered the match against Qatar with a weak technical and mental presence, contrary to all expectations, which gave the advantage at the beginning of the match to Al-Anabi, which missed a one-on-one opportunity for its striker Al-Moez Ali, and won a penalty kick from which Akram Afif scored the lead goal, which put the players under pressure in search of an equalizer. “Al-Abyad” did not enter the atmosphere of the match until the 21st minute through Meloni’s shot, which the goalkeeper deflected into a corner kick.

2 Humble attacking depth

The national team suffered several problems in terms of attacking depth, due to the weak performance provided by striker Bruno de Oliveira, and the mediocrity of his movements between the two central defenders of Qatar, Tariq Suleiman and Al Hashemi Al Hussein. He only appeared once, from which he scored a goal in the 31st minute that was disallowed for offside.

3 Hareb’s disappearance

“Al-Abyad” lost an important offensive card in that confrontation, as Hareb Abdullah did not appear at the previous levels he had performed with the national team, so his presence was much less than in previous matches, despite the efforts of Portuguese coach Paulo Bento to change the player’s position more than once, sometimes in depth and other times. On the right side, but he was not found in either of them, which forced the coach to replace him with Fahd Badr.

4 Absence of solutions

The team failed to find effective solutions that could translate its advantage in the second half. Shots against goalkeeper Mishal Barshim were rare, as “White” shot on only two occasions throughout the 90 minutes through Meloni and Fabio Lima, and the Qatari goalkeeper turned them into two corners, and there was no effectiveness in the match. The right side, compared to the left side, which was ably occupied by the duo, Yahya Al-Ghassani and Meloni, so the crosses from that side decreased in such a way that the “White” attacks ended. At around 18.

5 changes without addition

The changes made by the national team coach, Paulo Bento, in the second half did not contribute to improving the attacking form, especially on the part of the duo Caio Canedo and Mackenzie Hunt, whose performance since they were introduced in the 74th minute was much less than what the fans had hoped for, so Caio failed. In finding effectiveness on the Qatari goal, Mackenzie also did not provide the required offensive support in the midfield, while coach Pinto ignored introducing midfielder Tahnoun. Al-Zaabi, who is good at building the game and shooting from outside the box.

. 458 passes for the UAE national team, compared to 301 passes for the Qatar national team.

. 9 corner kicks for “Al-Abyad” in the match, compared to one corner kick for “Al-Anabi”.

. 61% of the national team’s possession of the match, compared to only 39% for the Qatari team.