Australia and the UAE picked up commendable wins in their opening round matches of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers and neither will want to quell that momentum when they meet in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. We have worked for a long time to create an identity for our team.
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“We lost one match”. We know what we need to do and hopefully we will see that on the pitch. Postecoglou had told Daily Telegraph that the UAE will be “a little bit fearful” of the Asian champions.
However there is no denying that we are dealing here with a powerful Australian side that are winning and, more importantly, doing it in their own way.
“It’s been a long time since we won a game in the Middle East – I think four years – so this was very important for us”, Milligan said. “We respect all teams”.
A battle to finish third and compete to win a berth in the intercontinental play-off is looming between the UAE and the Saudis, who meet next month. I said before the game they’ll sit back and that’s what they did.
The victory, secured by Cahill’s 48th goal in 92 appearances, sees Ange Postecoglou’s team retain a 100 per cent record from two matches played in the third round of Asian Football Confederation qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russian Federation.
“Our goal is to qualify for the World Cup. the team [has] resolved to fight and to not shrink from anything because we are soldiers fighting for our country”. “In football what you do at the present is what makes the difference”. “Other teams probably hold us in higher regard than we do ourselves”.
Playing in 35 degrees against a talented opponent – remember, the UAE had reached the semi-finals of the last Asian Cup, where only Australia, the eventual winners, proved too good for them – was another hard task. “It’s the same challenge for everyone else”.
“This time we have a very good chance and we have a very good team”.
“This is not a satisfactory result for us”, said South Korea coach Uli Stielike, who also complained about Syrian time-wasting.
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The United Arab Emirates aren’t putting Australia on a pedestal ahead of their World Cup qualifier, believing they deserve a place at the 2018 tournament.
