UAE national team defender, Khalifa Al Hammadi, gave the Kuwaiti national team a 2/1 victory, in the match that brought together the two teams today, in the second round of the first group in Gulf 26.

Mohamed Dahham (Q16) and Moaz Al-Asmaa (89) scored a double for Kuwait with a gift from Khalifa Al-Hammadi, while the UAE scored in the sixth minute through Caio Canedo.

With this victory, the Kuwaiti team raised its score to 4 points at the top of the standings with the Omani team, while the UAE team’s score froze at one point alongside the Qatari team.

The UAE national team surprised the hosts with a pressing attack from the first minute, which caused Al-Azraq some confusion, resulting in an early goal by Caio Canedo in the sixth minute, but Al-Azraq quickly regained its balance with a goal in the 16th minute by Mohamed Dahham.

The UAE national team was able to achieve the advantage in terms of possession for most of the first half, which held the Blue defense and goalkeeper Khaled Al-Rashidi a great responsibility, and Caio Canedo, Harib Abdullah, and Yahya Al-Ghassani also made a big move.

On the other hand, the Kuwaiti team relied on defending the region and relying on counterattacks, which posed some danger, especially since the UAE’s defense was not in the best condition.

Kuwait coach Pizzi relied on Youssef Nasser in front, assisted by Muhammad Dahham, Youssef Majed, Ahmed Al-Dhafiri, and Ali Khalaf on the flanks and midfield, while Sultan Al-Anzi was content with defensive roles.

Fatal errors

Grave mistakes in the first 16 minutes resulted in two goals in the first half, as Harib Abdullah took advantage of the rush of Blue defender Nasser Al-Enezi, to go one-on-one with goalkeeper Al-Rashidi and send a ball over him towards the net, where Caio completed the ball to score the first goal of the match, after which Khalifa Al-Hammadi made a mistake in receiving the ball. The ball, after Mohammed Dahham pounced on him to go one-on-one with goalkeeper Khaled Al-Mesmari and score the equalizing goal.

Al-Rashidi's right post also saved the opportunity to take the lead for the Emirates in the fourth minute of stoppage time, ending the first half in a positive tie with one goal for each team.

UAE attack

In the second half, Kuwait coach Pizzi modified his plan by including Sami Al-Sanea at the expense of Nasser Al-Enezi, hoping to counter the expected UAE attacks.

On the other hand, the Emirati team increased its pressure, and Caio almost lost, and after him Abdullah fought, and Yahya Al-Ghassani scored against Kuwait, had it not been for the brilliance of the goalkeeper and the defense line.

The Emirati White continued its search for the goal of progress, in exchange for an exaggerated defensive retreat from the Kuwaiti players, with which the Spanish Blue coach, Pizzi, found himself forced to revitalize the ranks by bringing in Reda Hani and Moaz Al-Asmaa, which stirred the stagnant waters in the Kuwaiti ranks.

Moaz Al-Asmaa was able to score the winning goal in the final hour of the match, taking advantage of a mistake by Al-Hammadi, noting that the UAE national team suffered from a shortage in numbers after the red card was shown to Kwame in the 87th minute.