Athletes stress the need to win the Iraq match, and they affirm:

Marvik demands to restore the morale of the players before facing Iraq

• The national team suffered its first defeat in the World Cup qualifiers against Iran.

  Photography: Osama Abu Ghanem

picture

Athletes demanded the coach of the national football team, Dutch Marvik, to restore the morale of the players, following the decline in the team’s results in the recent period, as well as finding solutions to the problem of defensive errors, as well as the offensive sterility that the team suffers from so far, before the expected confrontation against Iraq tomorrow, At Zabeel Stadium in Al Wasl Club in Dubai, as part of the fourth round of the first group account in the decisive round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.

They told "Emirates Today", "The team has not scored so far in three matches, only one goal against the Syrian team, scored by Ali Mabkhout, who is far from his true level so far," considering that "winning in the Iraq match will restore confidence in the players of the team themselves." Again, as well as the confidence of the sports street in them, after two draws and one loss, the team has suffered in its career so far, and it was against the Iranian team in the third round, which is its first loss in these qualifiers.

And they stressed “the importance of dealing seriously with this match, because there are 21 points still on the field, and that the players must fight for them, and confirm their keenness for a strong presence in this event, because any result against Iraq other than winning will weaken the chances of Al-Abyad in the competition for the qualification card. for the World Cup.”

The national team occupies third place in the standings of Group A teams, with only two points, which were obtained by a draw with Lebanon and Syria, while the Iranian team leads the group with nine points, followed by the South Korean team with seven points, and Al-Abyad, then the teams of Iraq and Lebanon with two points each. The Syrian national team is in last place with only one point.

For his part, the former international player and technical analyst, Abdul Rahman Muhammad, confirmed that what is required of the team now is to win all the upcoming matches, otherwise it will be outside the accounts, even though the team is mathematically present as a competitor for one of the centers, especially the third place, considering that “winning in All matches are very difficult, because the team will play with South Korea, and with the Iranian team again on its soil, so the situation is difficult,” adding that “the immediate goal is to beat Iraq, to ​​restore confidence between the coach and the players and with the sports street in general.”

He added, “What is required is to beat Iraq in the next match, and nothing else, and if it was a 2-0 or 3-0 score, it would be at least reassuring, even though the team was not bad in its last match against Iran, unlike what was the case. During his two previous matches against Lebanon and Syria, there was a different form for the team, and this is better than the previous matches.”

Abdul Rahman Muhammad explained: “The national team has always missed offensive effectiveness. The team’s attack depends only on Mabkhout, and if it is absent, what are the other solutions?

So this is what coach Marvik has to do.”

He continued, "The team is currently supposed to be at the top of its fitness, given the number of matches that the players have played so far, whether in the league or the Asian qualifiers, so the players should not be affected by the physical factor."

In turn, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Football Association, Dr. Salim Al Shamsi, said that "the team is currently without an offensive force, despite the presence of striker Ali Mabkhout, and the well-known rule in football is that if you do not score, it will be scored against you."

Salim Al Shamsi pointed out that the team's victory over Iraq will give the players an incentive and move forward, and create a moral atmosphere, in addition to giving the team hope in competing for one of the qualification cards.

He explained, "There are still 21 points in front of the team on the field, but they need someone to fight over them, and they need the spirit of the players."

Al-Shamsi stressed that “the difference in points between the team and its other competitors is not great, if the Iranian team is excluded, which almost moved away from the top, but there are the second and third places, given that if the team wins two matches, it can catch up with South Korea, which is ranked second until Now with seven points.

He continued, "Other teams can serve the national team by defeating the Korean team, but the spirit and the current tactics in which the team plays must change."

As for the former member of the Competitions Committee in the Football Association, Khaled Awad, he said that “if they are emotional, they should hold on to any hope, but the performance and the level with which the players appeared in the past three matches reflect the reality of Emirates football, and that, unfortunately, it will not He leads the national team far in this qualifier.”

Khaled Awad stressed the importance of holding on to any hope, although he is not optimistic in light of the current reality, saying that "optimism should be in realistic matters, if there is a level, spirit and performance in the team."

Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news