A perceived straight fight at the summit of Group A could become a three-way scrap.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia were supposed to contest top spot in a pool containing Malaysia, East Timor and Palestine, but thus far the latter side have performed above expectations, with three points from their opening two fixtures.
Pitted against the UAE in this dual-qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup and the 2019 Asian Cup, Palestine go into their match with the Emiratis on Tuesday night focused on twin targets: victory takes them level with Mahdi Ali’s men, while the Ramallah encounter represents Palestine’s first competitive test in their homeland in four years.
It is also the first time they host an Arab opponent. A momentous match could therefore have major repercussions.
MEMORY LANE: The birth of UAE football: Class of '72 acted as a springboard to bigger things
Palestine gave Saudi Arabia a scare in their opener in June only to lose 3-2 to a stoppage-time goal. A few days later, they rebounded to defeat Malaysia 6-0. That the UAE hit Malaysia for 10 last Thursday has done little to quell the optimism in the West Bank. Neither, too, Saudi’s 7-0 triumph against East Timor on the same night.
The pool’s two most prominent sides have six points each, but Palestine, buoyed by last year’s AFC Challenge Cup success and their subsequent progression to January’s Asian Cup, still sense an opportunity to upset the status quo.
“These big wins for the UAE and Saudi Arabia were natural because of the technical differences between the teams,” said Abdulnasser Barakat, the Palestine coach. “We don’t feel afraid of the UAE after their big win against Malaysia as the match gave us a good idea about how to face them.
“Their power is in their offence and they have many key players such as Omar Abdulrahman, Ali Mabkhout and Ahmed Khalil. As we are playing at home, and in front of our own fans, we will try to force our own style and try to prevent them from scoring.”
As Barakat conceded, that could be easier said than done. Khalil scored four and Mabkhout three against Malaysia last week in Abu Dhabi. Abdulrahman, meanwhile, created five of those, and assisted Habib Fardan, as well.
At 70th in the world rankings, the UAE are positioned 49 places above tonight’s opponents and enter the match as favourites, even on the artificial turf of the Faisal Al Husseini International Stadium.
The Emiratis approach Tuesday’s assignment keen on stretching their perfect record to three wins from three ahead of their October 8 match in Jeddah. The Palestine clash may be a landmark contest, but Mahdi Ali insists playing a part in history will not distract his side.
“The ultimate goal of the first group game in Palestine is to unite the people,” Mahdi Ali said. “We are happy with our presence in Palestine and to perform in Palestinian territories.
“But I stress the importance of respecting the opponent and performing very seriously. We hope for success in the match.”
THE NATIONAL VERDICT
After beginning their Group A campaign against the pool’s two lowest-ranked sides, the UAE face their first real test with the trip to the Faisal Al Husseini Stadium. Given the occasion, the Palestinians will be additionally motivated, and a similar performance to their displays against Saudi Arabia and Malaysia will ensure the UAE encounter a difficult night. Mahdi Ali’s squad is fully fit, so he will not stray too far from the team that cast aside Malaysia last week. That said, a draw should be viewed as a favourable result.
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
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