Athletes demand that “Al-Abyad” impersonate the 1989 national team

Athletes asked the players of the first national football team to embody the spirit and personality of the team in 1989 in Singapore, when it deservedly advanced to the 1990 World Cup in Italy, during the next two fateful confrontations that bring the team together with its Iraqi counterpart in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

“Al-Abyad” will host its Iraqi counterpart, tomorrow, at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in the capital, Abu Dhabi, in the first leg, and the match will be renewed on the 18th of this month in the second leg at the Basra City Stadium, and the winner of the two matches will qualify for the global playoff scheduled for March 2026.

The athletes stressed to “Emirates Today” the importance of the Romanian team’s coach, Elario Cosmin, abandoning the defensive method while not exaggerating in defense, and playing with a balance between defense and attack, stressing at the same time the importance of good psychological preparation for the players before the match, after the state of frustration they experienced following the recent loss to the Qatari team, and wasting a historic opportunity to directly qualify for the World Cup via the Asian playoff, describing the match as determining the fate of the team, and it must win it by more than two goals before going to the final. Basra.

Attack and defense

The former international player, Dr. Hassan Suhail, called for the team to adopt the offensive method and abandon the defensive method in which it played its last match against the Qatari team, calling at the same time not to underestimate the Iraqi team, because it is a strong team, and its net did not concede any goal during its last two matches in the Asian playoff, as it beat Indonesia with a clean goal, and tied with Saudi Arabia without goals.

Suhail, who previously held the position of team supervisor, added, “The team must take advantage of the absence of a group of prominent players in Iraq’s ranks, and win by more than one goal so that this will facilitate its mission in the return leg.”

A fateful match

For his part, sports commentator and technical analyst, Ali Hamid, described the first-leg match against Iraq as determining fate, stressing the importance of playing with a balance between defense and attack, and not exaggerating in defense while having the audacity to settle the match from the first half and win by at least two goals before going to Basra.

Ali Hamid added: “The importance of the first-leg match lies in that the team must decide its affairs before facing the return match, so the coach is supposed to deal with the psychological aspect of the players from the beginning, and raise their morale after the state of frustration they experienced following the recent loss to Qatar. The second thing is the importance of Kuzmin focusing on the tactical aspect, so that he deals with the match as the most important match, and taking advantage of the Iraqi team’s negatives, most notably the lack of speed in the rebound process, as well as its problems with set pieces, as evidenced by most of the goals scored. The Iraqi goal received it in the last period, and it came from set pieces.”

He continued: “The strengths of the Iraqi national team are the drive on the flanks and the process of taking advantage of the spaces on the field.”

1989 scenario

In turn, the former World Cup player, Ali Thani, stressed the importance of “Al-Abyad” embodying the spirit and personality of the team in 1989 in Singapore, when it deservedly advanced to the 1990 World Cup in Italy, during the qualifiers that were held there in the group system, although the team faced strong teams at that time, but it was able to accomplish the task successfully and achieve a historic achievement for Emirati football, indicating that things have become up to the players because they will be on the field after the end of the coach’s role outside the field by issuing directions to them.

He added: “If the spirit exists and is present, the team will succeed in its mission and this will facilitate difficult matters.”