Lack of fan support disappoints UAE coach

Interim UAE coach Dr Abdullah Misfir admitted it was disappointing to walk out in front of only a handful of local supporters on Wednesday, but was delighted to be able to sign off with a win against Lebanon. More than 10,000 fans were at the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi to witness the home side’s 4-2 victory, but the vast majority of those had come to see if the visitors could clinch their ticket to the next round of World Cup qualification. Kuwait’s 2-0 defeat in South Korea ensured Lebanon did just that, and while Dr Misfir was happy to play in front The Cedars’ vibrant fans, he wished there had been more Emiratis in attendance. “It was very hard when we entered the field and we didn’t see our people, our supporters. It was very hard because we were expecting people to come from the whole Emirates to support us, this is a new team,” he said. “Maybe they have the right, that they blame us for not making good results, but they should continue supporting us," he said. “But we enjoyed today playing against this number of fans. It was very, very nice because you had this number of fans with the Lebanese team.” Dr Misfir took control of the Whites on a temporary basis after Srecko Katanec paid the price for losing the reverse fixture in Lebanon last September. With no games for the UAE in the next two months, he is planning to take some time off, and despite winning just one of four World Cup qualifiers was pleased to end his reign on a positive note. “I think I need to rest after some hard days. I was suffering a lot, but now I am happy that I ended my official mission with this good and very important result,” he said. "What others say I don’t know, but from my side I am satisfied with what I did until now.” Asked if he had spoken to the UAE FA about extending his contract, Dr Misfir added: “I have been a professional for 10 years and I will go wherever I think is good for me and for the other party.” Meanwhile, Lebanon coach Theo Bucker revealed he had mixed emotions after watching his side ship four goals against the UAE but still make it through. The German admitted the 4-2 defeat highlighted areas of concern, but given they opened their campaign with a 6-0 defeat in Korea, qualifying for the final qualifying round is some achievement. “I have to say I’m very happy but on the other hand, also sad,” Bucker said. “Our aim was to qualify for the next round. Nobody believed that we would be in this position. “We have played some very good matches in this competition and got the belief that we could win. This game showed our weak points that we’ll need to work on in the next few months to play well in the next round.” Bucker felt the injury picked up by goalscorer, Mahmoud El Ali was crucial to his side’s defeat: “After the first goal we scored, we didn’t have many chances to get in. He is a big influence in the team.”