UAE want fans to act as extra man in Asian Cup showdown against Socceroos

Both coaches have called on their players to rise to the occasion in Al-AIn on Friday. (AFP)

• Zaccheroni hopes home advantage is key in last-eight battle against defending champions.
• Socceroos confident they can humble hosts and make semifinals.

LONDON: The UAE have been told to rise to the occasion ahead of their last-eight clash against the Socceroos.
The hosts have failed to hit the heights on their march — though, in reality, more of a uninspiring plod — to the quarterfinals with much criticism being leveled at the coach, Alberto Zaccheroni, and the players.
But having made it to within three wins of glory the Whites are hoping that home advantage pays off against the defending champions and they can finally find their A-game.
“The factor of playing on our field and in front of our fans will be a great motivator for us,” former AC Milan and Juventus boss Zaccheroni said.
“It’s true as an Italian I’m not an Emirati, but I feel a great responsibility on my shoulders and I have the same responsibility as the players and we’re all hoping we can snatch the place in the next round.
“We hope to see massive numbers of fans at the coming match and to qualify for the semifinal stage so we can make all the fans and the people happy.”
The fact that the UAE fans have not been seen with too many smiles across their faces so far can be put down to the side’s patchy form. Zaccheroni’s side have reached 
today’s match on the back of disappointing draws against Bahrain and Thailand and underwhelming wins over India and Kyrgyzstan.
Perhaps because of that the Italian coach wants the crowd in Al-Ain to act as the 12th man.
“All the indicators are to our advantage. The fans, the determination of the players and the aspirations of the players to qualify for the semifinals,” he said.
“This also creates pressure on the players and I’m sure they’re aware of this fact and they will play with high spirits and will fight to win the match.”
Today’s clash is really a meeting of two teams that have flattered to deceive. The Aussies, as with the UAE, have not lived up to their pre-tournament billing as one of the favorites and have limped, rather than strolled, to the last-eight. Their penalty shootout win over Uzbekistan in the second round summed up their tournament — victory without ever really convincing.
That, however, has not dented the confidence of coach Graham Arnold who is certain his Socceroos can beat the hosts.
“We are learning a lot every game. UAE are the home nation and we respect (them) but we will play our way, in our style and expect to dominate the game,” Arnold said.
“We’ve done our homework on them and no doubt they’ve done their homework on us. We have a lot of belief in our group. We work a lot with the players mentally to get that advantage over the opposition.”
“A full stadium for the UAE can work two ways,” he added. “It can work to help or it can work the opposite way and put a lot of pressure on them because they’re the home nation. That has nothing to do with us. All we can do is prepare ourselves properly and get ourselves ready.”
Zaccheroni will be forced to make at least two changes to his team with defender Khalifa Mubarak ruled out after breaking his leg in the extra-time win over Kyrgyzstan in the Round of 16 while Khamis Esmaeel is suspended after picking up his second yellow card of the campaign against the Central Asian nation.