Abu Dhabi: Bahrain head coach Miroslav Soukup has declared himself happy with both the result and his side’s second half performance following a 1-1 draw with the United Arab Emirates in the opening game of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 on Saturday.



Mohamed Al Rohaimi had appeared to put Bahrain on course for a sensational victory when he scored in the 78th minute, only for Ahmed Khalil to rescue a late point for the host nation when he equalised from the spot with two minutes remaining at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

The result sees the regional rivals tied at the top of the Group A standings ahead of Sunday’s match between fellow group hopefuls India and Thailand.



“If someone had told me before that we could have had a draw, I would have taken it,” declared the Czech tactician.

“People may say it was hard luck on us [because of the late equaliser] but it was not, as the UAE were a strong team and they played very well in the first half. I think the result was definitely okay.

“After talking to my players during half-time, I thought we were much better in the second half. Of course, we wanted to win, but our problem was that we paid the UAE too much respect, maybe my players were afraid to make a mistake.

“If I look at the match as whole though, I think a 1-1 draw was just about right.”

With potentially difficult fixtures still to come against Thailand on January 10 and India four days later, Soukup is hoping that the hard-won point against the UAE will serve his charges in good stead as they look to better the country’s fourth-place finish in 2004.

“We undoubtedly still have difficult ties to come, but we hope that the real pressure that came with this opening game is now behind us. The result will give us a great deal of confidence,” he said.

“I know the quality of the Thailand team, and there is every chance that the match against them will be more difficult than the one we had against the UAE.”

Meanwhile, UAE head coach Alberto Zaccheroni was left to rue his side’s inability to create chances in an encounter that saw them enjoy almost 65 percent of the possession.

“Naturally I wish that we had won the opening game of the AFC Asian Cup and that we could have given the fans a positive result, but this is what happens [in football].

“We had some chances that we could not convert, but in reality, we only had a few of those. We misplaced far too many passes and when you do that you cannot create many opportunities, certainly in terms of supplying strikers with the ball.

“During the first half we played very well and had some chances at the beginning, but we failed to score. Generally though, the game was equal for both sides and I believe my team made a huge effort today and tried to do their utmost.”

Despite dropping points, Zaccheroni – who guided Japan to the AFC Asian Cup title in 2011 – was adamant that the UAE will learn from their mistakes and come back stronger when they face India on Thursday.

“What is very important for me is not only performance, but also that the players fight hard during the game and that they evolve from one game to the next,” explained the 65-year-old Italian.

“We will correct all the mistakes and learn lessons from them to take into our next game against India and hopefully the performance then will be better.

“The UAE is prepared to face any team that has qualified for the AFC Asian Cup.”


Source: the-afc.com