By Andrew Warshaw
October 24 – The outspoken coach of hosts United Arab Emirates refused to blame his players for their first-round exit from the under-17 World Cup following a 2-0 defeat by Slovakia.
“I take the blame because it was me who chose the players, me who prepared them, me who made all the game plans,” said Rashid Amir after the third straight group stage defeat that left the UAE bottom of their group and delivered a painful blow to the hopes and expectations of a country that had been desperate to strike a blow for the region.
“We had trained a lot and prepared well. We achieved a lot of good results in the lead-up for this championship. It still puzzles me why we couldn’t play true to our potential,” he said.
“Perhaps they players were nervous …performing in front of their fans. I will have to give thought to a lot of things before I hand over my report to the FA. It is a bit disappointing we underperformed.”
As for his earlier allegations that 70 percent of the players in the tournament could be over age, Amir sought to backtrack on a remark that was not only picked up by media in the Gulf but around the world. “I apologise for that. As the host country, we want championships that are fine, without any trouble,” he said.
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