Socceroos targeting UAE's ‘lazy’ Abdulrahman
By STEVE LARKIN Jan. 25, 2015, 10 p.m.
THE Socceroos have branded United Arab Emirates star Omar Abdulrahman lazy and promised the playmaker a torrid time in their Asian Cup semi-final.
The Australians believe the mop-topped Abdulrahman
is arrogant and that they can exploit his lack of work ethic.
Socceroos defender Trent Sainsbury says the Australians, wary of Abdulrahman’s quality, will get in his face in Tuesday night’s fixture in Newcastle.
‘‘Very tidy on the ball, not the hardest worker, and I think we can exploit that,’’ Sainsbury said on Sunday. ‘‘But, at the same time, if we have got the ball, we have also got to keep one eye on him defensively. That is going to be the biggest thing for us as a defence.’’
Abdulrahman, a 23-year-old attacking midfielder rated by many as the player of the Asian Cup so far, has attracted interest from the likes of Manchester City, Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund.
‘‘He has just got that arrogance about him,’’ Sainsbury said. ‘‘He has got the cheekiness to chuck in a nutmeg here and there and he’s a very quick thinker on the ball.
‘‘So if we can counteract that and get in his face and not let him get his head up, hopefully we can stop him.’’The Socceroos enter the knockout bout with an extra day of rest, and they won their quarter-final in regulation time, while UAE scraped past Japan on penalties after extra time.
‘‘I don’t think the UAE has got the legs and the stamina to go with us for 90 minutes,’’ Sainsbury said. ‘‘It is just going to be quick ball movement, player movement. And as soon as we lose the ball, try and win it back, try and choke them until they’re blue.’’
The Socceroos expect the Emirates to play with caution.
‘‘You have got to go for it in this game – you can’t hold back,’’ Sainsbury said.
‘‘I think we have got a massive opportunity to change the way people look at football in Australia and the boys know the importance of it.
‘‘So we’re going to go out there and give 100per cent.’’
Ange Postecoglou expects the UAE to sit back and counter-attack, as they did against Japan.
‘‘I think the accumulation of games has forced some, most times, to play a sort of game where they sit back a little bit,’’ Postecoglou said.
‘‘Look at the quarter-finals and all of them, apart from ours, went to extra time, penalties. The tempo of the games looked like all the teams have been through a pretty tough schedule so far. I don’t expect them to come out at us.’’
But Postecoglou said Australia were not spending too much time worrying about their opponents.
‘‘What they do becomes a little bit irrelevant ... we still want to dictate the game,’’ he said. ‘‘So whether they sit back or come at us, we have to make sure in either scenario we are the ones on the front foot and dominating the game.’’
Postecoglou said his squad had no injury worries.
But Postecoglou was mindful that some players had carried heavier workloads than others in Australia’s four tournament games.
He pointed out that players including Ivan Franjic, Sainsbury, Alex Wilkinson, Jason Davidson, Tim Cahill had not played for two or three weeks coming into the tournament.
‘‘We have been pretty focused on making sure the team we put out there is going to give us the best chance for a result,’’ he said. ‘‘That has meant managing players.
‘‘Our planning is to go right to the end of the tournament.
‘‘There is no way we were going to be able to get a top-level performance for six games from every player in the squad.’’
Accordingly, Postecoglou said no one would be picked purely because they played in the last game or because they were likely to play in the final.
Australia drew 0-0 away to the UAE in October, but Postecoglou said the game had little relevance.
‘‘It was more preparation for us and, more importantly, exposing the players to what we felt was coming up ahead,’’ he said.
WHO IS OMAR ABDULRAHMAN?
Full name: Omar Abdul Rahman Ahmed Al Raaki Al Amoodi
Age: 23
Born: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Height: 1.73m
Position: Attacking midfielder, winger
Club: Al Ain (UAE)
Internationals: 30 (five goals)
History: Was listed by FIFA in 2013 as the most promising player in Asia, a year after being rated by ESPN as No.1 player in Asia. Trialled with Manchester City in 2012 but deal broke down over work permit issues. The Nike-sponsored left-footer, renowned for visionary passing and freakish dribbling skills, is still being linked with City, Barcelona and Arsenal, among others.
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