The coaches of the UAE and Bahrain stress the importance of the confrontation, and Yemen seeks to restore standing against Qatar in the Gulf 27

Croatian Zlatko Dalic, coach of the UAE national team, confirmed that his team's focus is on qualifying for the semi-finals of the Arabian Gulf Cup (Gulf 27), stressing the need to go beyond the great victory over Yemen, and focus on facing Bahrain.

Dalic said, in the press conference preceding the confrontation: “We will play against a strong opponent, and we know what we have to do, and we will give our best to achieve victory. The Bahraini national team has great experience and a great coach.”

He added: “Every match is important. If we win tomorrow, we will qualify, and we will have achieved our first goal. Bahrain played a good match in its previous match, and I realize that we also played a good first match, but we have to do more.”

Dalic stressed the need to turn the page on the victory over Yemen, saying: “We must forget the Yemen match and focus on confronting Bahrain, exploit all opportunities, and let our defense be our strength.”

He continued: “After our match against Yemen and scoring four goals, everyone started talking about us, but we have to focus on the next match and move step by step. “I hope we repeat what we did against Yemen, and achieve qualification tomorrow.”

The Croatian coach refused to put the UAE team in the category of candidates to achieve the title, explaining: “We are not candidates for the tournament, and I want to reach our first goal of qualifying for the semi-finals, and I do not want to put new pressure on the players.”

He added: “The public demands the best, but I cannot put pressure on our players. “I don’t want to send a negative message or say we are the best, we are moving step by step.”

He continued: “As I said, we are not the favorites, and there are strong teams in the tournament such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia.”

Dalic recalled his memories with Al Hilal during his previous experience in Saudi Arabia, saying: “I have beautiful memories here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with Al Hilal, and I hope to achieve something with the Emirati national team as I achieved with Al Hilal.”

For his part, Nicholas Jimenez, the UAE national team player, stressed the difficulty of the upcoming confrontation, pointing out the importance of the Gulf Cup tournament for the players.

Jimenez said: “As the coach said, the match is difficult, and participation in this tournament is important, and all the teams in it are strong.”

He added: “We must analyze our previous match to be ready to face Bahrain, absorb the coach’s instructions, and give our best. We represent a great team, and this is an important tournament, and we seek to make the fans and the coach happy.”

He concluded: “I thank our fans for their encouragement, and we will give everything we have to make them happy.”

Croatian Dragan Talajic, coach of the Bahraini national team, affirmed his confidence in his players’ ability to perform better against the Emirates, pointing out the difficulty of competing in the Arabian Gulf Cup “Gulf 27”, and that the chances of qualifying are still available to all teams.

Talajic said, in the press conference preceding the confrontation: “I congratulate all the teams that achieved success in the first round. This is a tough tournament, and everyone has a chance to qualify. I trust the players and we will do a good job tomorrow, God willing. The team we will face has played a very strong previous match, and has high-level players.”

He added: “I love the relationship between the Bahraini people and the players, and God willing, tomorrow I will make them proud of their team.”

Regarding facing the UAE national team, Talajic said: “We must be faster throughout the match, and not give them any chance. Zlatko is the best coach in the tournament, and I congratulate the UAE Federation for choosing him, and the UAE team’s position is better than us because it achieved victory in the first match, unlike us.”

The Bahraini coach spoke about his compatriot Zlatko Dalic, the UAE coach, saying: “I am Croatian and proud of what Zlatko did with the Croatian national team, and I wish him success with the Emirati national team.”

For his part, Mahdi Abdul-Jabbar, the Bahraini national team player, confirmed that his team is working to correct mistakes and improve effectiveness in front of goal. He said: “Yesterday’s training was in two groups, and the coach gave us appropriate guidance. We will not make the weather an excuse for us, as we have played in these conditions before, and we are trying to improve our level in front of goal.”

He added: “We trust the coach’s tactics, and all players want to give their best, but there may be a lack of concentration or making wrong decisions, and we will work to improve our decisions in the next match.”

Algerian Noureddine Ould Ali, coach of the Yemeni national team, confirmed that facing Qatar represents an opportunity for his team to restore respect after the result of the last match, noting that the technical staff worked to address the mistakes and appear better in the second round of the Arabian Gulf Cup competitions (Gulf 27).

Ould Ali said, in the press conference preceding the confrontation: “For us, the match will be an opportunity to restore dignity. We made some mistakes in the previous match, and we will work to correct them.”

Regarding the reality of Yemeni football, he explained: “The league is new, and things are starting to improve. As for tomorrow’s match, we will face a World Cup team that has gained great experience from its participation, and we will work to improve our team’s performance and benefit from this confrontation.”

The Yemeni coach touched on the player Adel Abbas, saying: “Adel Abbas is a talent, but we must choose the appropriate conditions for his participation.”

He added: “Our goal is to be stable. Any team needs success factors, some of which are internal and some of which are linked to what surrounds the team, such as the level of the league and the participation of players abroad.”

For his part, Rami Al-Wasmani, the Yemeni national team player, confirmed that his team’s players pledged to present a better image in the next confrontation, after benefiting from the lessons of the last match.

Al-Wasmani said: “We have many lessons learned, and we emerged from the previous match with positive and negative points. We feel sad about the result of the match, but we pledged to perform better in the next match.”

He concluded: “With the determination of the players, God willing, we will appear better.”