A series of sports experts and analysts noted a multitude of technical observations regarding the performance of the national football team under the leadership of Portuguese coach Paulo Bento, which led to a decrease in the results of the "National Team," and they ended up in third place in the selection for the 2026 World Cup, despite a successful start abroad with a victory over the national team of Qatar (3-1). Experts highlighted the danger of the team's performance after losing all eight points in three matches.
Experts stated for "Today’s Emirate" that "the national team faced a lack of preparation, since the coach could not develop the squad properly, and introduced new players, who could not adapt to the other players, nor was the combination of newcomers, who recently received citizenship of the UAE, utilized, despite their high football potential."
They noted that "for the squad, veterans like Ali Mabkhout and Bandar Al-Habsi are lacking; furthermore, the coach didn’t conduct friendly matches with strong teams before the games to identify problems and weak sides, and also the vagueness in strategy and style of play, and the use of some backup players in their clubs as the main players in the squad, the inconsistency of the main team, constant changes from one game to another, not to mention already about the psychological and physical preparation of the squad for these important qualifying matches."
They called on Bento to change his tactics in managing the squad, to avoid these shortcomings before the upcoming matches of the squad, which will take place on the 19th and 21st of this month against the national teams of Kyrgyzstan and Qatar respectively in the framework of the fifth and sixth rounds.
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"Preparation is lacking," said former General Manager of football at the club Bani Yas and sports analyst, Dr. Ahmed Al-Awadi. "The reason for the poor results of the national team lies in a lack of preparation, the absence of the necessary time for integrating players and realizing the coaching plan of coach Bento, which is evident in relation to newcomers, who received citizenship of the UAE, and also the usage of backup players in their clubs and ignoring or not including the main players, and also the constant changes in the squad for every match, which deprives the team of its style and harmony in play, which leads to problems in selection and attacking."
According to him, "there is no clear visibility of the strategy, we don’t know whether the team plays defensively or offensively, and there are also problems in analyzing the superior players during the formation of the main team, therefore it is necessary to have well-thought-out solutions during the game, and the ability to change tactics depending on the information on the field."
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Former international player and former General Manager of the national team Dr. Hassan Sukheil noted that "the preparation of the national team for the tournament has been inadequate, since they haven’t conducted quality matches for evaluating players before this tough tournament."
He noted that "the coach uses an inconsistent team, and also relies on young players, while at the same time pushes veterans aside, despite the fact that at this stage of the tournament there is a need for the integration of experienced players with youth."
Moreover, Hassan Sukheil added that "the coach is not solely responsible for the poor performance of the national team, but we ascribe to him a greater responsibility, since he didn’t adhere to the noted recommendations from the sports community, in particular the necessity of fixing the squad, and didn’t utilize players who have only recently received citizenship, so they become permanent figures in the squad."
He also underscored that "mistakes repeat themselves from game to game, and after the match with Qatar, which was the only one where the squad showed a decent level and game productivity, there was no sufficient preparation for the team."
He concluded that "the national team still represents a possibility of returning to the competition, facing matches with Kyrgyzstan and Qatar, regardless of the mistakes of Bento or the responsibility for the preparation of the squad, it is important to unite around the squad, forget about the shortcomings, and focus on motivating the players."
