CAIRO// Ahmed Khalil has urged Egyptian fans to get behind the UAE in tonight's quarter-final match to help them avenge the home team's loss to Costa Rica in the previous round. Costa Rica knocked out Egypt out with a 2-0 win in the second round on Tuesday night and Khalil is hoping the disappointed fans will turn their allegiance to the UAE.
"I hoping we will get the same number of enthusiastic supporters that came to the stadium for the Egypt game in the second round," he said. "Their support will be crucial in helping avenge the loss of our Egyptian brothers and carry the Arab flag into the semi-finals of the tournament." The home fans did not seem to have much of an impact on the Costa Ricans in the second round. The Concacaf champions stayed calm to complete an impressive turnaround after losing 5-0 to Brazil in their opening group game.
Qualifying for the second round with just one victory - a 3-0 win over Australia - they have reached the last-eight stage of a tournament for the first time in seven attempts. Confidence is high in their camp and Khalil, the Asian Youth Player of the Year, warned the UAE will need a lot more than just crowd support to upstage the dogged Central Americans. More specifically, they will need more goals from their strikers.
The UAE have one of the most attacking threats in the competition with 59 shots on goal in four games, but have managed to convert just five chances. Khalil himself has been guilty of wasting many opportunities. "I know I have not done as well as I would have liked," said the Al Ahli striker, who scored the 83rd- minute winner against Venezuela in the 2-1 win on Wednesday. "The problem is that some people expect me to score in every game, which is impossible.
"Hopefully I will be able to score, but that is not the most important thing for me - the most important thing is to win the game and reach the semi-finals." This is the UAE's third appearance at the Under 20 World Cup and they reached the quarter- finals on home soil in 2003. They seek to improve on that showing, but will be without the services of the impressive Theyab Awana on the wing and Mohammed Fayez in defence as both are suspended after collecting two bookings.
Mahdi Ali, the UAE coach, is confident that he has the strength in depth to get the job done. "It would have been better to have all the players, but our players are at the same level," he said. "We have still not played at our best yet and I'm hoping we can do that in this game. The players know what we need and are determined. The fans will be our 12th man: all things are going for us." The Costa Rica coach, Ronald Gonzalez, is equally confident.
"The UAE are a good side, with strong technical skills," he said. "If we play like we did against Egypt we have nothing to fear. We are enjoying our time here and we are staying in a spectacular hotel: they don't want to check out early." @Email:arizvi@thenational.ae UAE v Costa Rica, 10pm, Abu Dhabi Sports 1