Abu Dhabi: Ahmed Khalil quickly shifted his focus to the United Arab Emirates’ match-up with India at the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 after his penalty earned the hosts a late draw with Bahrain in the tournament opener on Saturday evening.



Khalil struck with just two minutes remaining in regulation time to secure a 1-1 tie with Miroslav Soukup’s side in their Group A meeting and ease some of the pressure on Alberto Zaccheroni and his team.



“It was more important to not lose the game and the good thing is we came back,” said Khalil. “Most important, we have to think about the next game. Every player felt what was going on today and they will think about the next game, to get three points.

“It was not pressure, but this is the first game and this is football and sometimes you don’t play well and you win. You have to give your maximum. You have to fight and work more and this is how we came back and we can do it for the next game. We go for three points and, hopefully, we’ll come back.”

Khalil and his teammates will take on India at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on January 10, while the Stephen Constantine-coached Indians will kick off their AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 campaign on Sunday when they meet Thailand in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE will go into their second game of the campaign in a relatively upbeat mood thanks to the point secured via Khalil and his penalty.

Having fallen behind with just 12 minutes remaining when Mohamed Al Rohaimi netted from close range for Bahrain, the three points looked increasingly likely to end up in the hands of The Reds.

But Jordanian referee Adham Makhadmeh pointed to the spot after Mohamed Marhoon was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the area as the clock ticked down, allowing Khalil to confidently smash his spot-kick past Sayed Shubbar.

“(There was) no big pressure because the penalty is not just for me, this is for all the team,” he said. “They play for the penalty or for any point in the game.

“We have to work more because sometimes in the game it is difficult to score and we have to get the point, how to score. But the good thing is the penalty came at a good time and we came back. We have to continue, we have to work more.”


Source: the-afc.com