The coach of the UAE national football team, Romanian Olaru Cosmin, has confirmed the readiness of the 'White' team to face their Saudi counterparts tomorrow, Thursday, in the match for third and fourth place within the Arab Cup tournament held in Doha. He considers that achieving third place would be a positive result for the team.
Cosmin described the team's advancement to the semi-finals as a good achievement, especially considering the participation of several young players. He pointed out that the Arab Cup matches were more like a 'tough marathon' due to the tight schedule and the strength of the competition, emphasizing that the players made significant sacrifices throughout the tournament.
During the pre-match press conference, Cosmin said: 'The Saudi team is very strong. I believe we faced the strongest teams in the tournament, such as Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco, and tomorrow it's Saudi Arabia. The players had to play five or six matches in 15 days, which is extremely tough competition considering the mental and physical limits.'
Cosmin considers the match against Saudi Arabia a new challenge and an excellent opportunity to develop the players in a highly competitive atmosphere, confirming that the team will do its best to appear in the best possible light, despite the difficult task against a Saudi team that has qualified for the 2026 World Cup.
The national team's coach confirmed that including goalkeeper Hamad Al-Maqbali in the starting lineup was not a gamble, noting that he deserved his place as he was the best goalkeeper in the UAE league last season.
Cosmin stressed that the team could have turned the match against Morocco around had they scored a goal, explaining that excessive openness on the field and conceding a goal lead to a chain collapse, stressing the need to learn from that experience, which he described as an important lesson to correct the course.
He also pointed out that many do not realize the extent of the sacrifices made by the players, explaining that some of them played while suffering from injuries, including knee injuries, in addition to other players who were not fully fit, and all of this was for the sake of achieving a positive result. He confirmed that the current disappointment is justified given these great efforts.
Cosmin also revealed the limited options for making major changes to the team's squad, considering that the players need more time to show their true potential and help the team in the future.
He described the match against Algeria as the most difficult in the tournament, confirming that he had explained to the players that Arab Cup matches cannot be compared to any other matches, especially in terms of physical effort and playing in front of a large crowd ranging from 60 to 70 thousand spectators.
