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What's the story?
India's opponents in the group stages of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, UAE and Bahrain, crossed swords with Kuwait and DPR Korea respectively in the run-up to the tournament on Saturday. While Bahrain obliterated its higher-ranked opponent 4-0, UAE suffered a major setback to their preparations when they lost 0-2 to the 158th ranked nation.
Iraq, who is in Group C of the tournament alongside Iran, pipped Palestine 1-0. Palestine is in Group B of the tournament alongside Syria and Australia.
In case you don't know...
India qualified as the winners of Group A above Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan to make an appearance after missing out on the previous edition. UAE automatically qualified for the tournament as the hosts whereas Bahrain did so by topping Group E.
The heart of the matter
UAE lost 2-0 to Kuwait at the Al-Maktoum Stadium in Abu Dhabi with goals from Bader Al-Mutawaa and Omar Al-Hobaiter in the 43rd and 86th minute paving UAE's humiliation. Like all the international friendlies between Asian countries being played at the moment, the match was played behind closed doors to protect the managers' tactics. The match, however, isn't being counted as an official friendly by FIFA.
One ought to note that Kuwait isn't as weak as their rankings suggest. They were banned by FIFA after the highest governing body of football in the world refused to recognize their sports law in the country. As a result, they couldn't participate in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers and failed to make the cut. By the time their ban was lifted, they had slipped to 188 in the rankings ladder.
Bahrain, on the other hand, continued their stellar form heading into the tournament when they obliterated DPR Korea 4-0. The smallest nation to participate in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup had earlier defeated Tajikistan 5-0 and Lebanon 1-0 on 20th and 27th December.
What's next?
India will start its 2019 AFC Asian Cup sojourn on 6th January when they lock horns with Thailand. On the other hand, the encounter against the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain are scheduled on 10th and 14th January respectively.
