Australia’s Ajdin Hrustic shoots to score during an earlier FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Asia Qualifier against Japan in Saitama, Japan in this October 12, 2021 file photo.
Doha: With the clock ticking down to the kick-off of the AFC Asian Qualifiers Road to Qatar Play-off between the United Arab Emirates and Australia, the excitement and anticipation from both sets of fans are starting to reach fever pitch.
Here are six players to watch out for as Rodolfo Arruabarrena’s side clash against Graham Arnold’s team at Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan on June 7.
Ajdin Hrustic (Australia)
Backed as the man to fill Tom Rogic’s boots after the 29-year-old pulled out of the tie for personal reasons, Ajdin Hrustic’s importance to the Socceroos grew in leaps and bounds during the qualifying campaign, from on the fringes to nailed on starter.
Now seen as the player the team look to for creativity and the ability to make something happen, Hrustic, 25, comes into the tie against the UAE full of confidence after featuring for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League final, where he successfully converted his penalty in the shootout win over Rangers.
The midfielder has proven he can step up when he is called upon in the big moments, and he will need to do so again at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium.
Ali Mabkhout (UAE)
Considering the sheer number of milestones Ali Mabkhout has chalked up in Emirati football, it’s hard to believe the Abu Dhabi native is still only 31 years old. By some margin the UAE’s record goalscorer with an outstanding goals-to-games ratio for his national team, Mabkhout has fond memories from his career relating to Australia.
At the 2015 AFC Asian Cup hosted by their upcoming opponents, Mabkhout had a breakout campaign by winning the competition’s Golden Boot, while four years later on home soil at the tournament’s next edition he scored the only goal in the quarter-finals as the UAE eliminated the defending champions.
Leading all players with 14 goals so far on the Road to Qatar, Mabkhout will be intent on adding to that tally when his team need him the most.
Adam Taggart (Australia)
Hitting form and fitness at the perfect time, Adam Taggart’s return to the Socceroos fold is a big boost for Graham Arnold’s men. The Cerezo Osaka forward has scored two goals in his last three games, including the Osaka derby, and has shaken off the knee injury that ruled him out of the second half of Australia’s group stage matches.
In Taggart’s absence, the Socceroos went from leading the group to finishing third and will need the recently turned 29-year-old to show the kind of prolific form in front of goal that earned him the K League 1 Golden Boot in 2019, when he shone for Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
Whether selected ahead of the A-League’s Golden Boot winner Jamie Maclaren, alongside him in a front two or as a replacement for the Melbourne City man from the bench, Taggart’s return could prove crucial.
Omar Abdulrahman (UAE)
What a story this could be. Omar Abdulrahman, one of the undisputed stars of Asian football until injury and loss of form, returns to the grandest stage after a two-and-a-half-year absence from international football with a point to prove and the desire to show he has still got the skills that lit up the continental game.
If Ali Mabkhout was the finisher for the UAE at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, Abdulrahman was the orchestrator, the creator – the talk of the town from players to fans to journalists. His performances for then club Al Ain in the 2016 AFC Champions League saw him named tournament MVP and AFC Player of the Year, but then a string of injuries struck, including a cruciate ligament rupture in 2018, upending his club and national team opportunities.
Although he last played for the UAE in November 2019 in a 1-0 defeat to Vietnam, he has impressed of late and helped take Shabab Al Ahli Dubai into the 2022 AFC Champions League Round of 16. Could he write another stunning chapter to his tale on June 7?
