United Arab Emirates staged an impressive second-half display to gain a 1-1 draw away to Oman on Wednesday, a friendly warm-up match as both Gulf outfits are gearing up for next week's World Cup qualifiers.
Goal.com
Talal Khalfan opened the scoring for the home side after 26 minutes, with Abdullah Malallah equalising for the visitors, six minutes from time.
It was the first encounter between the two sides since the 1-0 win recorded by the UAE in the 18th Gulf Cup final in January 2007.
The match provided both sides with the opportunity to better assess their squads’ potential, Bruno Metsu made no less than four substitutions ahead of UAE’s game on March 26 against Syria in Damascus.
Oman boss Julio Cesar Ribas lined up the squad likely to take on Thailand in Bangkok following their opening 1-0 home loss to Bahrain.
Both sides looked very cautious in the opening 45 minutes, the hosts enjoyed only one clear-cut chance from which Talal Khalfan notched the opener from a close-range effort.
Visitors UAE took the game to their hosts in the remainder of a close game, Metsu sent for players right after the restart including newcomer Obaid Al-Tawila between the posts, and was rewarded with the equaliser from substitute Abdullah Malallah.
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