The UAE football coach Aad de Mos said he was satisfied with the team's performance despite their elimination from the 17th Gulf Cup following a 1-1 draw with Iraq in their last match on Thursday night.
"We have played three strong competitive matches in six days and I believe we gained the respect of our opponents," he told Gulf News.
"We proved that we have achieved significant progress and improvement in the few past weeks.
"In all three matches - against Qatar, Oman and Iraq - we took the lead and forced the opponents to chase us. That means we are no longer scared of attacking any team even if they are more experienced or higher ranked.
"We lost our lead in all three matches in the last minutes or injury time. The reasons being either lack of experience, lapse in concentration or individual mistakes," he added.
"We have many young players who need more international exposure to gain experience and polish their talents.
"I am happy with the performance of our new players especially Yousuf Abdul Aziz, Ali Abbass, Abdullah Shah and Salih Obaid. Some of our old players like Basheer, Qasim, Waleed, Fahad, Subait and Khalil also played well."
De Mos said that 60 per cent of the re-building process has been completed and a strong foundation has been developed.
"I am sure that the UAE can compete for the title in the 18th Gulf Cup, which they host in 2006. But the FA must provide them the opportunity of playing no less than 50 international matches to prepare the team," he said.
"This team has played only eight games, four friendlies in addition to four official matches. But the team has already earned its unique character and style.
"We have created a disciplined team on and off the field. The players feel like a family and we have never, in the technical staff, heard any complaints or protests about the line up. The players know what we are doing and respect that," de Mos added.
"Most of the people thought, before we arrived in Qatar, that we will lose all our matches. But the team deserves praise and respect.
"We have to keep this team for the future despite the fact that we will continue scouting for new talent," de Mos concluded.
The UAE team arrived home yesterday at Dubai International Airport.
Gulf News
