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UAE and Iraq meet in Newcastle to determine who finishes third and fourth in the 2015 Asian Cup. Join The Roar from 8.00pm (AEDT) for the action from Hunter Stadium.
Middle Eastern nations Iraq and UAE do battle after losing their semi-finals 2-0 a piece to South Korea and Australia, respectively. Both had upset more fancied rivals in the quarter-finals, Iraq with Iran and the UAE with Japan, but both were beaten by better teams at the semi stage.
Iraq looked tired and off the pace in Sydney after an emotion-charged penalty shootout win over Iran in Canberra. A Ben Williams decision had helped them but they showed great grit and courage to keep coming at the Iranians and eventually triumph on penalties.
At Stadium Australia they had little left in the tank to trouble the Taeguk Warriors, who scored a goal in each half and were a class above. It was a similar story for the UAE.
They beat Japan in Sydney, a result few would have predicted. But they had to grind out over 120 minutes to do it and then couldn’t handle the pace and power of the Socceroos a few days later.
Early goals to Trent Sainsbury and Jason Davidson put the UAE on the back foot and they could not recover. They came back into the game, dominating large parts of the second half, but could not pull a goal back on Tuesday night.
Both teams will want to finish a decent Asian Cup campaign with a win in Newcastle tonight. The UAE is a side on the rise and surprised many by reaching the semi-final stage. They made it to the Olympics in London and have made significant inroads in youth development.
Iraq won the Asian Cup in 2007 and have been blooding a new side over the past few years. They have the core of a team that will have a great chance to qualify for the next World Cup in Russia in 2018.
Prediction: UAE 1-0 win.
Follow John Davidson on Twitter @johnnyddavidson
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