The UAE rounded off their tour of Switzerland with a smash and grab 1-0 victory over Georgia in Meyrin.
Mahdi Ali’s side were second best for much of the encounter and but for a debatable offside flag and the reflexes of goalkeeper Ali Khaseif could have found themselves staring at defeat.
But the UAE refused to lie down and with 74 minutes gone, Habib Fardan produced a deft header to ensure they ended their end of season European trip on a high.
Mahdi had made three changes to side beaten by Armenia last week, with Khaseif, Mohammed Fawzi and Mohammed Ahmed coming in for Khalid Essa, Abdulaziz Haikal and the injured Hamdan Al Kamali.
And as the game got under way, the Whites were pushed onto the back foot by their more physical opponents.
Indeed, the UAE were grateful to a last-ditch intervention from Mohammed Ahmed in the 10th minute as Georgia broke with numbers into the box.
Georgia coach Temuri Ketsbaia had clearly done his research, and his side refused to give the UAE any room on the break, rendering the pace of Ismail Al Hammadi and Ahmed Khalil ineffective in the early stages.
The latter did get away from his marker in the 25th minute, though, and after a smart give-and-go with Omar Abdulrahman his pull-back from the right byline had to be hacked clear by Ucha Lobjanidze with Ali Mabkhout lurking.
Georgia thought they had taken the lead within seconds of the restart, however, Vladimir Dvalishvili was harshly adjudged offside as he followed in Aleksandre Kobakhidze’s initial effort.
Mabkhout – without a goal in his last three games now for his country – was booked following a coming together with Solomon Kvirkvelia as his frustration began to boil over.
Ketsbaia’s side were now well in the ascendancy, with Khaseif forced into an outstanding reflex save to keep the game scoreless, flying across goal to deny Dvalishvili from just four yards
. And having ridden their luck, the UAE struck the killer blow as Fardan rose above Kvirkvelia to head home Abdulrahman’s free kick to notch the opening goal with the Whites’ first attempt on target.
There were only 16 minutes for Georgia to respond and Mahdi reacted by throwing on Ahmed Rabea and Yousif Saeed for their international debuts.
As the game meandered towards its conclusion, it was the UAE who finished the stronger, with Abdulrahman and substitute Majed Hassan both going close from range.
