UAE coach calls it quits after 2-0 defeat to Australia leaves 2018 World Cup hopes all but gone
Dubai: Mahdi Ali said he did his best with the tools he had available to him, after resigning as coach of the UAE national team following their 2-0 loss to Australia in Sydney on Tuesday.
The defeat left the UAE’s hopes of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia in tatters, with The Whites now four points behind Australia in third, with just three games remaining.
Only the top two teams qualify automatically, while the third placed side progresses to a cross continental play-off.
“This is a very bad moment for me,” Ali told the press after the game. “I wish I could leave the national team in a better condition, but this is life, we have to accept it.
“I did my best with all the tools I had. I think this is the maximum we can do.
“I apologise to all the fans, players and staff, I thank them all, but I think this is time for me to leave.”
The 51-year-old Emirati had been with the UAE set-up as a youth team coach until 2004, winning the 2008 Asian Under-19 Championship and finishing second at the 2010 Asian Games.
In 2012 he was promoted to first team coach after getting the Under-23 side into the Olympics for the first time in their history.
He then went on to win the 2013 Gulf Cup in Bahrain and finished third in the same tournament in Saudi Arabia a year later, before also finishing third at the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia.
Ironically, his greatest moment — a podium finish in Asia — was ended much like his lowest ebb on Tuesday, with a 2-0 defeat to Australia Down Under.
This latest reverse at the hands of his bogey side was the result of poor defending from set pieces, with two James Troisi corners gifting Jackson Irvine and Mathew Leckie with identical near-post free headers on six and 78 minutes.
It ended Ali’s dream of reaching a World Cup, which the former Al Ahli midfielder had also missed out on as a player, when he got injured ahead of the UAE’s World Cup debut in Italy in 1990, which to date remains their one and only appearance.
“I can’t complain about anything that happened,” he added of his tenure following the UAE’s latest defeat to the Socceroos. “We don’t have such a big number of players in our selection.
“If you lose a player it’s difficult to find another. In this condition, and with the league we have, it’s very difficult to play such big teams.”
Ali confirmed that he had previously resigned after the UAE’s 3-0 World Cup qualifying defeat away to Saudi Arabia in October but had been persuaded to stay on by the UAE Football Association.
At that time names muted as possible replacements were former Al Nasr coach Ivan Jovanovic and Al Ahli coach Cosmin Olaroiu.
Ali was in charge of 65 games as coach of the UAE, winning 40, with 15 defeats and 10 draws, for a win ratio of 61.53 per cent.
Fact Box
Mahdi Ali timeline
2004 — Joined UAE set-up as a youth coach
2008 — Won Asian Under-19 Championship
2010 — Second at Asian Games
2012 — Qualifies UAE to Olympics for first time
2012 — Becomes first team coach
2013 — Wins Gulf Cup in Bahrain
2014 — Finishes third at Gulf Cup in Saudi Arabia
2015 — Finishes third at Asian Cup in Australia
2017 — Resigns after all but failing to make 2018 World Cup
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