LONDON: The UAE have been told to rise to the occasion ahead of their last-eight clash against the Socceroos.
The hosts have failed to hit the heights on their march — though, in reality, more of a uninspiring plod — to the quarterfinals with much criticism being leveled at the coach, Alberto Zaccheroni, and the players.
But having made it to within three wins of glory the Whites are hoping that home advantage pays off against the defending champions and they can finally find their A-game.
“The factor of playing on our field and in front of our fans will be a great motivator for us,” former AC Milan and Juventus boss Zaccheroni said.
“It’s true as an Italian I’m not an Emirati, but I feel a great responsibility on my shoulders and I have the same responsibility as the players and we’re all hoping we can snatch the place in the next round.
“We hope to see massive numbers of fans at the coming match and to qualify for the semifinal stage so we can make all the fans and the people happy.”
The fact that the UAE fans have not been seen with too many smiles across their faces so far can be put down to the side’s patchy form. Zaccheroni’s side have reached
today’s match on the back of disappointing draws against Bahrain and Thailand and underwhelming wins over India and Kyrgyzstan.
Perhaps because of that the Italian coach wants the crowd in Al-Ain to act as the 12th man.
“All the indicators are to our advantage. The fans, the determination of the players and the aspirations of the players to qualify for the semifinals,” he said.
“This also creates pressure on the players and I’m sure they’re aware of this fact and they will play with high spirits and will fight to win the match.”
Today’s clash is really a meeting of two teams that have flattered to deceive. The Aussies, as with the UAE, have not lived up to their pre-tournament billing as one of the favorites and have limped, rather than strolled, to the last-eight. Their penalty shootout win over Uzbekistan in the second round summed up their tournament — victory without ever really convincing.
That, however, has not dented the confidence of coach Graham Arnold who is certain his Socceroos can beat the hosts.
“We are learning a lot every game. UAE are the home nation and we respect (them) but we will play our way, in our style and expect to dominate the game,” Arnold said.
“We’ve done our homework on them and no doubt they’ve done their homework on us. We have a lot of belief in our group. We work a lot with the players mentally to get that advantage over the opposition.”
“A full stadium for the UAE can work two ways,” he added. “It can work to help or it can work the opposite way and put a lot of pressure on them because they’re the home nation. That has nothing to do with us. All we can do is prepare ourselves properly and get ourselves ready.”
Zaccheroni will be forced to make at least two changes to his team with defender Khalifa Mubarak ruled out after breaking his leg in the extra-time win over Kyrgyzstan in the Round of 16 while Khamis Esmaeel is suspended after picking up his second yellow card of the campaign against the Central Asian nation.
UAE want fans to act as extra man in Asian Cup showdown against Socceroos
UAE want fans to act as extra man in Asian Cup showdown against Socceroos
- Zaccheroni hopes home advantage is key in last-eight battle against defending champions.
- Socceroos confident they can humble hosts and make semifinals.
Djokovic reaches Australian Open semis as Musetti retires
- Serb continues his quest for a record-extending 11th Australian Open title and standalone 25th Grand Slam crown
- Task gets tougher for Djokovic with a clash against either defending champion Jannik Sinner or Ben Shelton
MELBOURNE: Novak Djokovic continued his quest for a record-extending 11th Australian Open title and standalone 25th Grand Slam crown, but only after a cruel twist of fate for Lorenzo Musetti, who quit their quarter-final with an injury on Wednesday while leading.
While the stars seemed to align for the 38-year-old Serb in his hunt for more glory at the majors, Iga Swiatek’s bid to seal a career Grand Slam — capturing all four of the sport’s biggest titles — went up in smoke following a defeat by Elena Rybakina.
There were several swings in momentum for Jessica Pegula, who deservedly reached the Melbourne Park semifinals for the first time after dashing fellow American Amanda Anisimova’s hopes of reaching three straight major finals.
The drama in the day session was reserved for the afternoon match where Djokovic arrived fresh for battle with Musetti after getting a walkover on Sunday from Czech youngster Jakub Mensik, which scuttled their fourth-round meeting.
The Serb made a fast start but it was all one-way traffic as the artistic Musetti showed his full range of strokes and bagged the opening two sets, before the Italian pulled up holding the upper part of his right leg at the start of the third.
Musetti looked to soldier on after receiving treatment, but lasted only one more game and he threw in the towel leading 6-4 6-3 1-3 as stunned fans at the Rod Laver Arena let out a gasp and Djokovic quietly heaved a sigh of relief.
“I don’t know what to say, except that I feel really sorry for him and he was a far better player,” Djokovic said.
“I was on my way home. These things happen in sport and it’s happened to me a few times, but being in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam, two sets to love up and being in full control, I mean it’s so unfortunate.”
Musetti said he was pained by having to retire after taking a big lead against the experienced Djokovic, adding the trouble in his leg first began in the second set.
“I felt there was something strange,” he added.
“I continued to play, because I was playing really well, but I was feeling that the pain was increasing, and the problem was not going away.
“In the end, when I took the medical timeout ... and started to play again, I felt it even more and it was getting higher and higher, the level of the pain.”
Tough test
Though he eclipsed Roger Federer with his 103rd match win at Melbourne Park, the task will only get tougher for Djokovic with a clash against either defending champion Jannik Sinner or young American Ben Shelton in the last-four.
As one fifth seed crashed, another gained flight as Elena Rybakina booked her place in the semifinals with a dominant 7-5 6-1 win over six-times Grand Slam champion Swiatek.
Swiatek was left to rue the defeat and the lack of privacy in difficult moments off the court where players cannot escape cameras, a day after Coco Gauff’s racket-smashing meltdown in response to her crushing defeat by Elina Svitolina.
“The question is, are we tennis players or are we animals in the zoo, where they are observed even when they poop?” she said.
“That was exaggerating obviously, but it would be nice to have privacy. It would be nice also to have your own process and not always be observed.”
All eyes were on sixth seed Pegula later as she stayed on course for her maiden Grand Slam trophy by going past Anisimova 6-2 7-6(1), sparkling despite some testing moments toward the end of the clash.
“I’m really happy with my performance,” Pegula said.
“From start to finish there was a lot of momentum swings, but I thought I came out playing really well, came out serving really well, and was able to just hold on there in the second and get that break back and take it in two.
“I showed good mental resilience there at the end not to get frustrated.”
