UAE secure draw against Lithuania

Arab Today: Abdul Aziz Sanquor's injury time strike earned the UAE senior football national team a crucial 1-1 draw against Lithuania at the Sportplatz Matrei Stadium in Leinz, Austria, on Wednesday. The Europeans led 1-0 at half-time before Sanqoor had made the best of a deflection by the Lithuanian keeper to slot in the equaliser with a lovely rebound two minutes into injury time. This latest result saw head coach Mahdi Ali's charges pick up their second draw in less than a week following Friday's goalless encounter with Norway in Oslo. Deivydas Matulevicus gave the Europeans a first half lead when his 42nd minute header found the back of the net. However, boosted by the return of a number of their star players following Al Ain's AFC Champions League quarter-final clash with Al Ittihad, the UAE went on the attack in the second period. Having created several chances, the equaliser eventually came in the third minute of injury time when Ahmed Khalil shot against the post before Sanquor knocked in the rebound. The UAE will now tackle Paraguay on Sunday as they continue their AFC Asian Cup preparations. At the AFC Asian Cup itself, the UAE have been drawn in Group C where they will face Iran, Qatar and Bahrain. U-19 squad lose The UAE U-19 national team were narrowly 0-1 beaten by their Danish counterparts in a highly tactical encounter during their current external training camp in Slovakia on Tuesday night. The Europeans struck after the referee turned a blind eye to a clear foul against a UAE defender. The UAE lads on the other hand squandered a handful of easy scoring opportunities in front of an open net. According to the UAE midfielder Ali Salmeen, the final result of the match does not represent the run of the game. "We have missed many scoring opportunities, but generally speaking, the overall performance was promising,” he said.
"We have suffered some drawbacks in our international confrontation against some heavyweight European opponents. But, we will work on the weak points and make the best of our tests when the squad is fine-tuned for the Asian challenge,” he added.
Source: WAM