The UAE Olympic team have the opportunity to get some revenge when they square off against Japan in the semifinal of the men's football competition at the Asian Games on Wednesday.
The Under-23 side could erase the hurt of eight years ago when their predecessors - Mahdi Ali's 'Golden Generation' - lost to Japan in the 16th edition of the Games in Guangzhou, China.
That was a costly defeat, with the UAE just falling short of gold, going down by a solitary goal in the final. And it's that silver that the current generation would like to trade for a gold and the first step towards that would be see off Japan in the last four at the Pakansari Stadium in Cibinong, Indonesia on the morrow.
And if everything goes right, Maciej Skorza's lads would take on either Vietnam or South Korea in the tltle tilt on Saturday. The UAE team's Polish coach commended his side's strong personality over the course of the competition and asked his lads to keep up the same level against the Japanese.
"Our ambition remains the same, to win and qualify for the final and hopefully go on and win the competition," Skorza said on Tuesday.
"The confrontation against Japan will be difficult as they are a top team. It will require higher levels of concentration especially since speed adds another dimension to their game. But my team have improved game by game and they have showed a strong personality. They do not fear any team and they have the confidence to continue and achieve the aspirations of the nation," the 46-year-old added.
The UAE were slow starters in the tournament, losing to Syria before bouncing back against Timor Leste. And although they Young Whites went down to China in their final group fixture, they made it out of the group and to the knockout stages of the competition as one of the four best third-placed team.
Since then, they have bested hosts Indonesia and North Korea on penalties to make it thus far. The UAE won 4-3 against the hosts in the Round of 16 after being locked 2-2. Then, they got the better of North Korea 5-3 via the penalty shoot-out with the the 21-year-old goalkeeper Mohamed Al Shamsi emerging as the hero. The shot stopper, who graduated to the Al Wahda first team just two seasons ago, pulled off a brilliant save by diving to his left to deny Jong Hyok So.
The UAE have also been well served by 21-year-old Zayed Al Ameri, with the Al Jazira marksman top scoring with six goals so far, including twin strikes against Timor Leste and Indonesia. His club mate Ahmed Al Attas, Khaled Ibrahim and Husain Abdulla Omar have two each.
Meanwhile, Japan came through as the second-placed team from Group B, with two wins and a loss. They beat Malaysia in the Round of 16 before seeing off Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals.
Avenging the 2010 defeat and the added bonus of a spot in the final beckons for the UAE.
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