UAE Under 23 team ‘need to look towards our next target’ at Olympic qualifying tournament

After their win over Sri Lanka on Friday, the UAE Under 23 football team will meet Tajikistan on Sunday as they take their first steps towards qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, writes Ahmed Rizvi.

The UAE Under 23 team will try to make it two wins in a row when they meet Tajikistan on Sunday as they take their first steps towards qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Photo Courtesy UAE Show more

On a high after their big win over Sri Lanka on Friday, the UAE Under 23 team have set their sights on getting three more points against Tajikistan on Sunday as they take their first steps towards qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Khalfan Mubarak, Yousuf Saeed and Ahmed Rabia scored as the hosts opened qualifying with a 4-0 win over the Lankans in Kalba. The last was an own goal.

Victory over Tajikistan on Sunday will confirm the UAE’s spot among the 16 nations for next year’s continental championships in Qatar; the top three from that tournament will qualify for the Olympics.

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“We wanted to score as many goals as possible against Sri Lanka because that would benefit us in the qualifying battles,” said Abdullah Misfir, the UAE coach.

“The players achieved that target successfully and now we need to look towards our next target – to get three points against Tajikistan.

“The players did not have their best match against Sri Lanka because we missed a few opportunities, so there is room for improvement. Hopefully, we can do that against Tajikistan and achieve our targets from this match.”

Mubarak was the star player of UAE’s victory over Sri Lanka. He agreed with his coach.

“We could not give our all against Sri Lanka because of their style,” said the 19-year-old Al Jazira forward.

“They played a very defensive match. But, thankfully, we managed to get a good result and now our focus is on this match.

“Hopefully, we can provide our best games and get three more points.”

The UAE will be playing the second match today, taking the pitch at the Kalba Stadium after the Yemen-Sri Lanka clash. The Yemenis defeated Tajikistan 2-1 in their opening match.

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