UAE faces ‘tough situation’ after Gulf Cup loss to Kuwait: Paulo Bento
Emirates' hopes hang in the balance as defensive errors and missed chances lead to a 2-1 loss in Kuwait

UAE Faces Must-Win Clash Against Oman After Defeat to Kuwait in Arabian Gulf Cup
Manager Paul Bento expressed optimism that the UAE still has a chance of reaching the next round of the Arabian Gulf Cup despite a 2-1 defeat to hosts Kuwait at the Jaber Al Ahmad Stadium on Tuesday.
The result leaves Kuwait and Oman, who beat Qatar 2-1 in their previous match, at the top of the standings with four points each. The UAE and Qatar are on one point each and the national team will face Oman in a must-win match in the final group stage on Friday.
“The situation is difficult, but it is not impossible. We have to recover, we have to analyse and prepare later. Certainly not on the pitch because we only have 72 hours so there is not much time to train,” Bento said after the match.
“We have to put all our energy into preparing for the next game because we know that the opposition is strong and the situation is not easy, but it is still possible to qualify for the next round.
“We don’t know what will happen until the group stage is over. Yes, that’s the situation we created in the game against Kuwait.” I am not making excuses, but we are responsible for the situation we are in.”
In a game dominated by the UAE, Kuwait capitalised on two defensive errors that saw their opponents draw first blood five minutes into the match.
Harib Al Maazmi picked out a pass from the right flank, beat two Kuwaiti defenders and chipped a neat chip over goalkeeper Khaled Al Rashidi, giving Caio Canedo the easy task of heading the ball into the back of the net.
The UAE had chances to double their lead, but Kuwait did not relent.
Kuwait scored both goals through mistakes by Khalifa Al Hammadi. The Al Jazira centre-back fired past goalkeeper Khalid Eisa in the 16th minute, before Mohamed Dahan stumbled through the back line of defence to make a steal and line out.
The UAE regrouped to avoid further damage tried. However, with a minute left, the UAE were reduced to 10 men – centre-back Kouame Autonne was sent off for his second bookable offence – when Al Hammadi sent a poor back-pass towards Eisa, which was blocked by substitute Moath El Enezi. The winner.
Bento backed Al Hammadi, saying that players make mistakes.
“Khalifa has been playing very well with us since the start of the World Cup qualifiers. In this game, he got into a situation but we lost the game because of his mistakes,” said the Portuguese manager.
“We created a lot of chances. However, the problem was that we gave our opponents chances to score too. I don’t think we controlled the game. “The situation is difficult now, but it is not impossible.”
UAE will squander several missed opportunities. They had two shots from Fabio Lima and Marcus Meloni, both saved by Al Rashidi. A few more went over the bar, while Yahya Al Ghassani’s effort hit the crossbar just before half-time.
After the restart, Meloni’s shot was blocked by Al Rashid and on the rebound, Caio’s effort deflected off a defender and sailed over the crossbar. Lima’s sliding effort in front of a narrow cross from Al Ghassani also missed its mark on 12 minutes.
Earlier in the night’s opening match, Oman rallied from a goal down to beat Qatar 2-1, with Issam Al Sabhi scoring twice.
Almoez Ali gave Qatar a second-minute lead before Al Sabhi doubled the lead with a 20th-minute spot-kick. Cancelled.
The Omani forward, unmarked at the far post, headed home Ali Al Busaidi’s cross from the left for his third goal of the match.
Qatar were unlucky, with substitute Abdeirahman Moustafa’s close-range effort four minutes from time going wide.