Zlatko Dalic left the pitch a satisfied man. The Croatian in charge of the UAE praised his players after their 1-1 draw with Qatar in the final group stage match of the Arabian Gulf Cup "Gulf 27", insisting his side are on the right track towards the title. But he warned of the danger lurking in the next stage.
Dalic spoke at the press conference following the match, saying: "We were able to control the entire course of the match, especially in the second half, and I am happy today with the young elements who took part."
A packed fixture schedule forced his hand on rotation. "We are under pressure from matches in a short period of time, but we must be careful in the coming knockout matches," he explained.
Reflecting on the tournament as a whole, Dalic said: "We played well in the three matches, perhaps we did not have many chances today, and I sought to involve all the players because I am thinking about the future."
He added: "We have two days to recover and prepare, and we are developing little by little, and we deserve everything we have achieved so far."
Talk then turned to the semi-final against Oman. "Today our full focus was on Qatar, and regarding the semi-final against Oman, they are a strong national team and a side that should not be underestimated, we hold respect for what they have achieved, and we will try to make every effort to win the next match," the UAE coach concluded.
Qatar boss Julen Lopetegui saw plenty to build on. The Spaniard told the press conference after the match: "We achieved 7 points in the group stage, and that is a good thing."
He added: "Today we were excellent, and we will turn this page and begin a new one, which is an upcoming clash against a national team strongly tipped to win the title, but as I said, we will get some rest first before thinking about the match against Saudi Arabia."
Lopetegui continued: "Today's match was extremely difficult, we played against one of the strongest national teams in the tournament, and we delivered a wonderful level in some periods of the encounter."
He went on: "In the second half we took control of the course of the match and wasted many chances. Now the most important thing is to get rest before facing the tournament host."