After two quick fire goals from Malaysia the UAE feared they would let slip their three goal lead.TASHKENT – United Arab Emirates assistant coach Salem Al Arfi was relieved to see his side survive a late scare as they held on to beat Malaysia 3-2 in their final Group D match at the AFC U-16 Championship on Thursday.
UAE were 3-0 up after 58 minutes at MHSK Stadium thanks to goals by Marwan Al Saffar, Mohamed Hussain and Haddaf Al Ameri but Muhamad Bukhari scored two goals in four minutes late in the game to set up a tense finish.
"We are glad that we got a win at the end of the day because it was disappointing to have a 3-0 lead before conceding two goals in the second half," said Al Arfi in the post-match press conference.
"After taking a three-goal lead our players thought that they had sealed the game but we warned them that the game was not over yet and that's what happened as Malaysia scored two quick goals.
"We were afraid that we would concede a late equaliser as our players underestimated Malaysia and their strength and they made simple mistakes.
"However, we held on to the lead and won the game."
Malaysia coach Lim Kim Chon felt that his team’s disorganisation in midfield was a crucial factor in their loss.
"There is nothing much to say about the game but the defeat came with a lot of pain as we lost the match due to the disorganisation of our midfield and that gave the advantage to UAE," he said.
"We went into the game looking for a win because we wanted to have a chance of progress. The defeat came about after we conceded two goals in the first half which made the UAE players comfortable.
"Giving away two goals in the first half was bad as it demoralised our players," Lim added.
"Despite coming back in the second half and scoring two goals, we couldn't just score the equaliser.
"The first goal that we conceded was unexpected as it was so easy and from a long distance free-kick. It was a poor judgment by our goalkeeper and that affected our players.
"Our objective was to win the game but we didn't underestimate our opponents. However, the game didn't go as we planned although we made a good comeback in the second half."
source:The AFC.com
