UAE beat Australia 1-0

UAE Olympic team defeated Australia 1-0 in their penultimate match in Group B of the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2012  London Olympics at Al Jazira’s Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. With this result they maintained their top spot at the top of the table of the second group with 11 points and boosted their chances of making to the Olympics for the first time as they are one only one match away from realising the dream. UAE’s Omar Abdul Rehman opened the account in the 23rd minute which sent the home crowd in the frenzy. Just before that Ahmed Khalil had the agony of seeing his powerful free kick hitting the goal post and bounce back into play. However Rashed Eisa and Abdul Rehman produced the fine move and former crossed the ball to the latter, who shot from close range to score the match winner. In the beginning both the teams played a cautious game. UAE’s goal keeper Khalid Essa was superb under the bar in the first-half as he saved a near perfect shot from Aaron Mooy, who plays for St Mirren in the Scottish Premier League, in the 14th minute and blocked a close range shot from captain Oilver Bozanic with his legs in the 19th minute. Before that in the fourth minute he also saved a weak header from Jason Hoffman. Australia’s best chance to equalise the score came in the 39th when Mate Dugandzic unleashed a powerful kick but it hit the woodworks UAE created more scoring chances in the first-half as Ahmed Khalil and Rashid Essa made attempt to score in the 17th and 18th minutes but their shots went wide. Rashed Essa (49th minute) Khamis Ismael (57th minute) could have increased the lead had it not ended up safely in goal-keeper Mathew Rayan’s hands. The pattern of play continued with both the teams creating chances in the tough match but the score remained unchanged. The game was watched by a crowd of 28,734. Abdul Rehman was named the man of the match. Australia remained at the bottom with three points with their chances shattered. UAE’s fifth and last group match is against Uzbekistan at the latters’ Jar Stadium on Mar.14. Closely on the heels of leaders UAE are Uzbekistan with eight points whereas Iraq have four points.