Defensive mistakes exhaust Al-Abyad against Iraq

Several technical reasons contributed to imposing a draw result (1-1) on the confrontation between the UAE and Iraq, yesterday, at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, in the first leg of the final stage of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, amid a large crowd of 32,000 fans, where defensive errors emerged that exhausted the “Whites”.

The two teams are scheduled to meet again, on the 18th of this month, in Basra to determine the team that qualifies from the Asian continent for the global playoff, which will be held in Mexico next March.

The Iraqi team opened the scoring early through Ali Al-Hammadi, after a defensive lapse committed by Lucas Pimienta (10).

But the Emirati reaction did not take long, as Luan Pereira scored the equalizer with a wonderful header, following a perfect cross pass from Abdullah Ramadan (18).

Goalkeeper Khaled Issa imposed himself as the star of the match, and was awarded the man of the match.

In the first half, the Emirati team suffered from a clear weakness in the defense line, as several fatal errors appeared that the visiting team did not exploit optimally, in addition to the absence of pressure on the ball carrier, giving Iraq the opportunity to appear in a more organized manner, especially in the midfield, and to attack thanks to the physical factor, which negatively affected Al-Abyad’s performance.

The roles of some key players were absent from carrying out the tasks assigned to them, as Jimenez did not fully build the attacks, and the offensive starts from Luan Pereira and Hareb Abdullah were lacking, which reduced the ability of “Al-Abyad” to threaten the visitors’ goal, with the exception of the only opportunity from which the goal came.

The numbers showed clear control for Iraq in the first half, as the Al-Rafidain Lions had 53% of the ball, compared to 47% for the Emirates, which gave the Iraqi national team the initiative in the midfield and the attacking line. The visitors created seven attacking attempts, including three that posed a direct threat to Khaled Issa’s goal, who blocked them brilliantly and showed remarkable brilliance.

The visitors excelled at the set-piece level, as they received five corner kicks compared to only one for the Whites in the first half, which reflects the good organization and tactical strength in exploiting fixed opportunities.

The advantage remained at the beginning of the second half for the guests, who wasted several easy chances in front of the Emirates goal, before goalkeeper Khaled Issa appeared heroically, preventing two goals scored by substitutes Ayman Hussein and Mimi.

The strong return of the Emirati team came after a full hour of play, as the team appeared in a different way thanks to the offensive changes made by the coach, Elario Cosmin, by bringing in Bruno de Oliveira, Ali Saleh and Caio Canedo, which contributed to improving the team’s offensive performance, and obtained many corner kicks and easy opportunities, including a goal scored by Caio Lucas, which was canceled due to offside and the match ended in a draw.