Changing two technical staff and receiving easy goals prevented “Al-Abyad” from competing in the World Cup

Athletes expressed their regret for the absence of the national football team from the 2026 World Cup, which is preparing to kick off during the next few days in the United States, Canada and Mexico, even though the “White” team was close to qualifying, and had obtained several opportunities by competing in all stages of qualification from the Asian continent, before losing this historic opportunity, stressing that there are several reasons that prevented the team from repeating its participation in the World Cup for the second time after 1990, most notably the lack of good treatment. With some sensitive matches, or losing points at home by conceding easy goals, especially against the North Korean and Uzbekistan teams in the third round of the qualifiers, and the same is the case with Iraq’s two home and away matches in the global playoff.

The athletes told Emirates Today, with the launch of this event approaching, starting on the 11th of this month: “The local sports street regrets the absence of the Emirati White from the most important international football event, even though he was close to achieving this dream, whether by qualifying directly or through the Asian qualifying round for the World Cup, since all the success factors were available to the sacked Romanian coach Eulario Cosmin.”

They added: “There was a state of confusion and lack of good preparation from the beginning, and instability in a fixed squad, as well as the instability of the technical staff, with the dismissal of the former Portuguese coach Paulo Bento after his failure to manage the system in the required manner, in addition to the failure of most of the team’s players to perform at the required technical level, in addition to the absence of a fighting spirit, and the failure of the team’s former coach, the Romanian Elario Cosmin, whose contract was recently terminated by the Football Association, with the Asian playoff matches qualifying for the World Cup at the required level, in addition to the team losing points by conceding goals. Easy, in addition to the defensive mistakes, whether individual or collective, for which the team paid dearly, and the team did not benefit from the ground staff and the audience during the matches that were held on its home soil.”

Lack of good handling

The former international player and technical analyst, Abdul Rahman Muhammad, considered that with the start of the World Cup approaching, there are several reasons behind the team’s absence from this event, including “the lack of maximum benefit from the ground staff and the public, especially during the matches that are held on its stadium, especially the matches played in the home and away system, in addition to the change of the technical staff with the dismissal of the former Portuguese coach Paulo Bento, in addition to the failure of most of the players whom everyone had high hopes for with the required technical level from the beginning of the qualifiers until Iraq’s final match in the qualifying play-off with Iraq.” For the World Cup, in addition to the failure of the former coach of the national team, Kuzmin, to deal properly with the national team’s match against Qatar in the Asian playoff, as well as in the national team’s match against Iraq, which “Al-Abyad” lost by two goals to one in the global qualifying playoff for the World Cup, which caused its exit from the World Cup qualifiers.

Muhammad stressed that one of the most important reasons that also prevented the team from being in the World Cup was the major defensive mistakes that the team made, whether individually or collectively.

Small details

In turn, former Al-Nasr football team manager and technical analyst Khaled Obaid confirmed that “small details deprived the team of being in the World Cup, such as losing easy points at home, as happened against North Korea in a 1-1 draw during the match that brought together the two teams at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain in the third round of the World Cup qualifiers, as well as a scoreless draw at home against Uzbekistan in the ninth and penultimate round of the third round of World Cup qualifiers.”

He pointed out that “there are common technical and administrative factors that prevented the team from qualifying for the World Cup, including that the preparation period was not good, starting with the era of the team’s former coach, Paulo Bento, who did not manage the team’s system in the required manner to suit a global competition the size of the World Cup, and the team’s continued failure even during the era of former Romanian coach Elario Cosmin, despite the fact that the Football Association provided it with all the factors for success, especially in terms of financial budgets, player bonuses, and other matters,” stressing that There was no excuse for the team to miss the World Cup.

Obaid added, “The team was also lacking in fighting spirit,” noting that “the negligence was in the technical aspect of the team, not the administrative side.”

Confusion and poor preparation

For his part, former international player and technical analyst Bakhit Saad confirmed that “confusion, the lack of clear preparation and good preparation, and the instability of certain players, as well as the instability of the technical staff, are among the most important reasons that led to the team’s absence from the World Cup, even though its opportunity was very great,” noting that, as veteran players, they demanded at the beginning of the team’s preparation to compete in the World Cup qualifying qualifiers that the focus be on good preparation of the team under the slogan “Dream of a Nation,” and for everyone to join hands behind the team to achieve this. The dream.

He considered that the team could have reached the World Cup if there had been good preparation, especially in the wake of increasing the seats allocated to the Asian continent to eight direct seats and half a seat in the global playoff, but the team wasted this opportunity.

Saad stressed the importance of reviewing all the matters that caused the team’s absence from the World Cup and working to avoid them so that they do not reoccur during the coming period.

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The 10 reasons

. The preparation period was not good during the reign of Portuguese coach Paulo Bento.

. Not making the most of the land and public factors.

. Changing the technical staff by dismissing Paulo Bento.

. Most of the team’s stars did not perform at the required technical level.

. Cosmin’s poor handling of the Qatar and Iraq playoff matches.

. The team lacked fighting spirit in a number of matches.

. Not playing with a fixed lineup during matches.

. Lack of stability at the technical staff level.

. The team lost points by easy goals.

. Fatal individual defensive errors.