(MENAFN- Arab Times) SYDNEY Jan 25 (Agencies): The United Arab Emirates did Australia a great favour when they upset Japan in the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup but are not expecting charity in return. Not only did UAE book themselves a place in the last four with their stunning win they also spared the host-nation a rematch against the country that beat them in the last Asian Cup final and the 2007 quarter-finals.
The Australians were cursing their rotten luck after they lost to South Korea in the group stage ruining their chance of playing their semi-final at Sydney's sprawling Olympic Stadium on Australia Day. They will instead play at Newcastle's much smaller Hunter Stadium a day later on Jan 27 but not against their great foes thanks to UAE's shock win. Brimming with self-confidence the Australians have promised to repay UAE with a ruthless display and have already started the trash-talk. 'I don't think the UAE has got the legs to go with us for 90 minutes' Australian defender Trent Sainsbury told reporters on Sunday. 'As soon as we lose the ball (we're going to) try and win it back try and choke them until they're blue. 'You have got to go for it in this game. You can't hold back.' Australia and UAE have played each other just twice before with both matches ending in scoreless draws. But the Australians should have a big advantage this time. Not only are they playing on home soil but they also had an extra day's rest after they comfortably won their quarter-final against China 24 hours before UAE beat Japan on penalties after the teams were still level after extra time. 'The tempo of the games looked like all the teams have been through a pretty tough schedule so far' Postecoglou said. 'I don't expect them to come out at us. 'What they do becomes a little bit irrelevant... we still want to dictate the game.' The UAE head coach Mahdi Ali bemoaned the lack of time between games but hasn't given up hope of his team pulling off another upset. 'Playing against Australia in Australia it will also be a very tough game but we have just finished and we have only two days (to recover)' he said. 'They have three days and we have to travel so we will try to recover for the next match. 'We don't have much time so we have to get together again to do a good job in the next match.' With the exception of their loss to South Korea when they rested key attacker Tim Cahill and several other key players the Australians have been the best attacking team in the tournament scoring 10 goals. And Sainsbury said the home team would continue to press forward as much to try and win new supporters to a sport that has been slow to take off in Australia. 'You have got to go for it in this game you can't hold back' Sainsbury said. 'I think we have got a massive opportunity to change the way people look at football in Australia and the boys know the importance of it. 'So we're going to go out there and give 100 percent.' Sainsbury also twisted the knife questioning the work ethic of UAE star Omar Abdulrahman and promising to 'get in his face'. The shaggy-haired playmaker has been one of the players of the tournament so far instrumental in the the UAE's victory over Japan his cheeky dinked 'panenka' penalty underlining his outrageous talent. 'Very tidy on the ball not the hardest worker and I think we can exploit that' was Sainsbury's verdict on Abdulrahman warning the warning the 23-year-old could be in for a rough ride. 'He has just got that arrogance about him' said Sainsbury. 'He has got the cheekiness to chuck in a nutmeg here and there and he's a very quick thinker on the ball. 'If we can get in his face and not let him get his head up hopefully we can stop him. If we can keep him facing their goal then he's not going to be able to face forward and play that killer ball.'
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