UAE Begins Its Journey Against Yemen

The UAE national team launches its campaign against Yemen with the slogan of securing a strong start that affirms its declared ambition to compete for the “Gulf Cup 27” title and secure a victory it has been awaiting for seven years. The “Whites” suffered unprecedented negative results in the last three editions, having been eliminated from the group stage in the tournaments won by their rivals in 2007 and 2013, and failing to taste victory in their last eight matches since their 3-0 clean-sheet win over Yemen on November 26, 2019, in “Gulf Cup 24.” After earning three points and then suffering two defeats in the Doha edition, they recorded their worst-ever participation in 2023 in Iraq, accumulating just one point from a draw and two losses, followed by two points in the previous edition in Doha after a loss and two draws. However, the UAE enters the current edition with heightened ambitions and a goal of at least reaching the final.

The UAE places great hopes on 59-year-old Dalic following his appointment in August as the replacement for Romanian coach Cosmin Olăroiu, aiming to restore its Gulf prestige, compete strongly in the Asian Cup, and attempt a return to the World Cup, having participated only once in 1990 in Italy. However, the most successful coach in the history of the Croatian national team, thanks to leading them to the runners-up spot in the 2018 World Cup and third place in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, had met his players for only seven days before the tournament’s start, due to pressure from the domestic league and the participation of UAE clubs in Asian competitions. After his appointment, Dalic acknowledged, “The first challenge I will face is preparing for just one week before the Gulf Cup, which requires cooperation from everyone to make the best possible use of the available time.”

Meanwhile, the Yemeni national team, under the guidance of Algerian coach Nouredine Ould Ali, aims to “develop” its participation in the Gulf Cup tournaments and ensure qualification for the knockout stages for the first time in its history, after concluding its matches in the previous “Gulf Cup 26” edition in Kuwait with a first-ever honorable victory. The Yemeni team seeks to surprise its opponent today and achieve a result that brings it closer to reaching the semi-finals, establishing itself as a dark horse in the tournament, despite recognizing the difficulty of competing in Group 2.

The Yemeni national team delegation was the first to arrive in Jeddah to participate in the Gulf Cup, where it engaged in a training camp that ran from September 11 until the start of the competition. In its last friendly matches before the tournament, the Yemeni team secured its first-ever victory against its Kuwaiti counterpart, winning 2-1.