The team qualified under a “complicated scenario”.. and Kuzmin: Leading the “Whites” is a great honor

The national team qualified for the quarter-finals of the Arab Cup “Qatar 2025” through a “complicated scenario,” which was completed by defeating Kuwait 3-1, in addition to the service it expected from the Jordan-Egypt match, where “Al-Nashama” won over “Pharaohs” 3-0, in the third and final round of the group stage, making “Al-Abyad” occupy second place in the third group with four points, behind the leaders Jordan with nine points, while the Egyptian team came in second place with two points, while The Kuwaiti national team is in fourth and last place with one point.

The UAE national team coach, Olario Cosmin, expressed his happiness with the victory and qualification, and said: “Finally, things went in our favor. “I came to the UAE national team to help, and it is a great honor for me to be here leading the Whites.”

Yahya Al-Ghassani scored two goals for the Emirates, the first in the 16th minute from a penalty kick earned by Ali Saleh, and the second in the 18th minute from a shot after Caio Lucas’ pass.

Fahd Al-Hajri reduced the difference for Kuwait with a goal in the 59th minute, then Nicolas Jimenez scored the third goal for the Emirates in the 66th minute from Ali Saleh’s pass.

It seemed from the first minute that Al-Abyad took his match against Kuwait with the utmost seriousness, refusing to be led by calculations or nominations that leaned in favor of Egypt. Al-Abyad presented his best performance in the tournament so far, surpassing the image he appeared in in the Jordan and Egypt matches, to score two early goals through the brilliant Yahya Al-Ghassani.

This rapid progress gave the players great confidence, and allowed them to control the rhythm of the match and impose their style on the Kuwaiti team, which found it difficult to keep up with the speed of passing and the offensive transformation of the national team.

At the same time, Al-Abyad coach, Olario Cosmin, was more balanced in his management of the match, after he relied on the 4-2-3-1 method, which gave the team greater flexibility in the middle and facilitated the process of building attacks from the flanks and depth.

This organization contributed to reducing the danger of Kuwait, while maintaining the defensive balance to confront some individual attempts made by Kuwaiti national team players.

Despite Kuwaiti Blue’s success in scoring the goal to reduce the difference through Fahd Al-Hajri, this did not change the reality of the match in which Al-Abyad was in control, especially after Sultan Al-Anzi was expelled following a violent intervention on Yahya Al-Ghassani, which allowed the national team to manage the remainder of the match with the least possible risk.

As time passed, Al-Abyad seemed more mature and stable, and created a number of opportunities that later strengthened its lead with the third goal through Nicolas Jimenez, who fired a powerful shot that landed in the Kuwaiti goalkeeper’s left clip, confirming the team’s advantage and right to win.

Signs of happiness and satisfaction appeared on the face of the national team coach, Romanian Elario Cosmin, after the end of the Kuwait match and the “White” qualification to the quarter-finals of the Arab Cup. He said in press statements after the match: “Finally things went in our favor.” The players played a good match and we started the match strong, and achieved a well-deserved victory.”

He added: “I cannot deny that this ideal start gave us a lot of calm and confidence after we entered the Kuwait match in an atmosphere bearing some pressure due to the complexities of the situation for us, but our first focus was on serving ourselves by ourselves while waiting for the result of the Jordan-Egypt match.”

Cosmin confirmed: “We finished the first half perfectly with control and possession of the ball, with a two-goal lead, but unfortunately we conceded a goal from a set piece again, and this is a problem we know well.” Our team doesn’t have enough length at the back, and I can’t change that. “Kuwait’s goal complicated things at times, but we came back by scoring the third goal at a time that was important for us.”

The national team coach said: “I have a good group of players, and little by little we will do better.” “This is football. Yesterday we were sorry about the results, and today we are happy with what we achieved.”

Regarding his future in leading the UAE national team, especially after failing to qualify for the World Cup finals by losing to Iraq in the playoff round, Kuzmin said: “I came to the UAE national team to help, and it is a great honor for me to be here.”

He concluded by saying: “In the end, we achieved the most important thing, which was the win, so we could come out with the three points and go back to our homes happy.” Now we have to focus on the next step, because it will be difficult and requires double the work.”