Socceroos sent by the United Arab Emirates, Latest football news

Australia, champion of the Asian Cup, sat down on Saturday morning (January 26, Singapore time), while a controversial goal of Ali Mabkhout allowed the United Arab Emirates to impose 1-0 and end up in the semifinal with Qatar next week.

Mabkhout hit midway through the second half after Milos Degenek scored a pbad to goalkeeper Mat Ryan. The Al Jazeera player rushed to get past the goalkeeper and placed the ball in an empty goal for his ninth goal in two Asian Cup tournaments.

The Australians complained of Degenek's fault before Mohammed Abdulrahman gave up the ball, but Japanese referee Ryuji Sato dismissed the protests and the goal remained.

"Milos did not have a minute at the World Cup, but he has progressed in this tournament and has been incredibly well behaved," said Australian coach Graham Arnold.

"Obviously, he's hurting right now, but I'm going to make sure he's fine."

"He is a fantastic kid, a fantastic professional and he has a long future with the Australian national team."

Victory means that the UAE's Alberto Zaccheroni will qualify for a potentially politically sensitive semi-final against Qatar, a neighboring Arabian Gulf country, which previously knocked out South Korea 1-0.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt launched a diplomatic and commercial boycott of Qatar in June 2017. Countries accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism, which it denies.

The progress made by the UAE justified Zaccheroni's decision to make five changes to the club that beat Kyrgyzstan in the previous round, with veteran striker Ismaeil Mattar making his first start of the tournament.

The home team seemed comfortable despite the changes and, in less than a minute of opening shot, she almost took the lead. Ismail Al Hammadi flew over the Australian defense but Ryan was at the height of his efforts.

Al Hammadi is threatened again 19 minutes later. Ryan is again called after the winger has entered Australia's bottom line.

The Socceroos also threatened in an open and entertaining first half.

Trent Sainsbury gave a header over the bar and Apostolos Giannou forced Khalid Essa to stop five minutes before the break.

However, Mabkhout should have scored in the final seconds of the half, but his header, at close range, was above the crossbar.

He made amends after halftime by capitalizing on Degenek's bad pbad to give the advantage to his team.

Australian coach Arnold has launched forwards Awer Mabil and Andrew Nabbout in an ultimate attempt to extend the match. However, the UAE has stood firm to avenge their loss to the Socceroos in the semifinals four years ago in Australia. – REUTERS