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The wait and countdown are over and the atmosphere of the 17th edition of the Asian Cup has become the fate of football fans until early February.
The United Arab Emirates will host Bahrain at 18h Saturday at the Madinat Zayed Sports Stadium at the opening of the 2019 Asian Cup.
The tournament, which takes place for the second time in the history of the United Arab Emirates, combines for the first time 24 teams.
In the evening of Saturday, in the capital Abu Dhabi, the UAE aspires to take an ideal start to win the first title. Bahrain is seeking the least possible damage from a young team.
Bahrain must overcome the negative balance
The UAE have faced Bahrain 27 times, with 13 wins in the match against Bahrain, 10 against Bahrain and 4 draws.
Bahrain is looking to beat its recent record against the UAE, losing the last five confrontations.
In the Asian Cup, the UAE's position in the results is not improving, losing two games against the UAE in the continental championship, the first of the 1992 edition with three goals to one goal.
The second match of the Asian Cup was held in the latest version of 2015 and the United Arab Emirates had won 2 to 1, a game that keeps the special memory of the UAE striker, Ali Mabhout, who scored the fastest goal in the history of the competition after 14 seconds. If later than his predecessor?
To avoid the tie
Arab teams have already participated in 10 of the 16 opening matches of the Asian Cup and, surprisingly, they have won only one out of ten matches, even with two players Arabs in the same match.
In Saturday's game, the draw will be the only result that will reinforce this negative figure.
The UAE had played in the opening match of the 1996 edition and had staged a 1-1 draw against South Korea.
Bahrain participated in the opening match of the 2004 competition against home-owner China, and drew 2-2 in an exciting match.
Does it fill the reputation of what Lovei left behind?
In October, the UAE national team received a shocking news that Umar Abdel Rahman was injured in the cruciate ligament, which inevitably meant his absence from the Asian Cup.
Amouri, one of the most talented players in the Arab world and former winner of the Asian Player of the Year award, was a key element of the UAE's success in the last edition by finishing third.
Before Omar Abdul Rahman, Ismail Matar dominated the throne of UAE players for many years and translated it under his leadership to win the 2007 Gulf Cup.
Matar, 35, was released from the account of former coach Mehdi Ali at the last edition of the Asian Cup, but Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni made the brave decision to restore his reputation.
"I do not speak Arabic, so I do not get the pressure," he said in an interview with the sports center in Abu Dhabi.
In the absence of a very influential Omar Abdel Rahman, the role of Mattar, who of course does not live the golden age of his career, will develop, but he will have a new luck – perhaps the last – in his international career to do what Adnan Taliani had not managed to face.
Zaccheroni and good memories
The man who drove AC Milan to win the 1998/99 season has very good memories of the Asian Cup.
Alberto Zaccheroni had already won gold at the 2011 edition when he had brought Japan to reclaim the title over Qatar in overtime at the expense of Australia.
Now, Zaccheroni is facing a challenge of a different kind, not to bring the team back to the podium, but to ride it for the first time.
Asked during the pre-meeting press conference about his happy memory in 2011, Zaccheroni did not find many similarities in the circumstances: "Yes, 8 years ago, the difference now that I old. "
The 65-year-old accuses the UAE of being too much on the defensive despite having two of the country's best-known attackers, Ali Mabkhout and Ahmed Khalil.
"If they had heard about Italy and described me as a defensive coach, they would have made fun of me," Zaccheroni said. "They considered me a very aggressive coach."
For the moment, Zaccheroni has not proved his true offensive intentions: he prompted the UAE to reach the Gulf Cup final in early 2018 with a questionable offensive record: one goal throughout the tournament and a penalty. In front of Amman.
At the Asian Championships, the champions will have seven matches and as they have no time to continue their career, Zaccheroni must score more goals than his players.
Do you remember Sucob?
With much hope, Egyptian fans were expecting an international performance from their 2009 Youth World Cup team on our floor.
However, coach Miroslav Sokop did not overtake the role of 16 and lost two goals against Costa Rica.
The Czech man has not had any real success in training since winning his country at the 2007 Junior World Cup, which earned him the title of Egypt at the next edition.
Now, Sockop is back on the facade after 10 years, in the most important competition of the Asian continent, to allow a generation of young aspirants to reiterate the miracle of 2004.
"We know the UAE very well," he said, "All Gulf teams are open to each other and we also know that the owner of the field has the best chance of qualifying for the tournament. we look forward to achieving a positive result despite our participation with a group of young people. "
Bahrain paranormal
In 2004, Bahrain participated in the Asian Cup for the second time in its history and presented a spectacular spherical spectacle that almost managed to break the barrier of the impossible.
The Bahraini team, a few seconds before the semi-final, was ahead of Japan 3-2 before the Samurai warriors returned with a late goal, followed by a fourth goal in overtime.
Bahrain finished fourth after losing another exciting and goal – rich match against Iran, but left an unusual picture in the mind of the Arab spectator, who did not know aggressive and brave Arab teams.
Talal Yousef, Hussein Ali, Alaa Habil, Ahmed Habil, Sayed Mohammed Adnan and other members of this generation in gold, led by Croatian Srichko Jurecic, represent a permanent reference to any future generation of Bahrainis.
Darkening of the eyes
After about two weeks of historic UAE football with Al Ain coming to the Club World Cup final, the UAE is looking to continue the festivities with a major victory over Bahrain.
The Emirates list includes seven Al Ain players, including Khalid Issa, who emerged in the international competition.
A Jordanian whistle
The Jordanian Arab Department, Adham Al-Maqamah, 31, will witness the exclusive Arab match.
The international referee since 2013 has managed to qualify for the final of the 2017 AFC Champions League between Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) and Urawa Reed (Japan) (1-1).
Al-Maqamma oversaw the match arbitration between Iraq and the United Arab Emirates at the 2018 World Cup, which ended with the victory of Al-Rafidain 1- 0, bad omen for the Emirati.
The maid also intervened in the Al Ahli match against Al Wasl in the first round of the UAE in the 16th round of the Zayed Cup of Champions.
Not
The Madinat Zayed Sports stadium will host the opening match, the same venue that will host the final on February 1st.
Abu Dhabi's 43,000-man stadium, which opened in 1979, is a testament to the success of the UAE march in the 1996 edition of the UAE-crowned final at the World Cup. Gulf 2007.
Zayed City Stadium hosted the final of the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup and will host a total of eight matches.
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