(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The UAE went down fighting to Jordan in the 44th edition of the King's Cup football tournament at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday.
The Whites lost their opening fixture 3-1. Bahaa Abdel Rahman Suleiman, Hamza Al Dardour and Mohannad Khair Alla scored for Jordan, while Salem Sultan scored the lone goal for the UAE. Coach Mahdi Ali had embarked on the sojourn to the Southeast Asian country with a largely experimental squad consisting mainly of Olympic team players as well as a few players from the National team. Mahdi Ali had rested a major chunk of his first team regulars like Omar Abdulrahman, Ali Mabkhout, Ahmed Khalil, Ismail Matar, Ismail Al Hammadi, Amer Abdulrahman, Habib Al Fardan, Ismail Ahmed, Walid Abbas, Mohanad Salem, Haboush Saleh, Mohamed Abdulrahman, Abdulaziz Sanqour, Abdulaziz Haikal and goalkeepers Majed Naser and Khalid Eisa after a gruelling international and domestic schedule. The Emirati tactician had called up a lot of promising young players who are on the fringes of the National team and the tournament serves as preparation on their road to Russia. With the crucial third round of World Cup qualifiers coming up from this September, it was a chance for Mahdi Ali to look at these youngsters to bolster the squad. The Whites didn't have a great start, conceding a penalty on eight minutes after captain Hamdan Al Kamali, returning from an injury lay-off, handled the ball. And Bahaa Abdel Rahman Suleiman made no mistake from the spot, putting it past Al Nasr shot stopper Ahmed Shambih. But the UAE managed to cancel that out through Salem Sultan, with the Al Wahda defender firing a long ranger into the top of the net, in the final minute of the first half. Jordan, though nudged ahead again after a defensive lapse from Salem Sultan and Al Shabab's Manei Mohammed. Hamza Al Dardour pounced on the opportunity and sent it past Ahmed Shambih on 51 minutes. Mohannad Khair Alla then put the match beyond UAE's reach by scoring the third after quickly taken short corner on 68 minutes to put Abdullah Abu Zam'eh's men in the final to be played on Sunday. The Whites will be involved in the play-off for third place against Syria, who were edged out by hosts Thailand 7-6 on penalties after regulation time and extra time had left them deadlocked 2-2. UAE SQUAD: Walid Amber (Emirates Club); Fawaz Awana (Bani Yas); Saif Khalfan, Khalfan Mubarak, Sultan Al Shamsi, Ahmed Al Attas (Al Jazira); Mohammed Yousif (Sharjah); Hassan Hamza, Manei Mohamed, Hassan Ibrahim (Al Shabab); Ahmed Ali (Al Dhafra); Ahmed Barman, Saeed Al Menhali (Al Ain); Ahmed Shambieh, Mubarak Saeed, Masoud Sulaiman, Mahmoud Khamis, Khalid Jalal, Jassim Yaqoub, Salem Saleh (Al Nasr); Hamdan Al Kamali, Salem Sultan, Sultan Al Ghaferi, Mohamed Al Akbari, Khalid Bawazir (Al Wahda); Abdullah Kazim (Al Wasl). UAE 1 (Goal: Salem Sultan 45) Jordan 3 (Goals: Bahaa Abdel Rahman Suleiman 8, Hamza Al Dardour 51, Mohannad Khair Alla 68)
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