Bahrain's Sayed Dhiya Sadeed (L) vies against Khamis Esmaeel Zayed of the United Arab Emirates during the opening match of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Jan. 5, 2019. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. (Xinhua/Li Gang)
ABU DHABI, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Hosts United Arab Emirates scored a late penalty to clinch an 1-1 draw with Bahrain in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup opener on Saturday.
Having lost on their last five encounters, Bahrain took a surprising 1-0 lead on 74 minutes when Mohamed Al Rohaimi scored from the center of the area.
However,Bahrain's Mohamed Marhoon was caught for handing the ball inside the box in the 88th minute. UAE substitute Ahmed Khalil levelled the score from the spot on his 100th international appearance.
In 1996, UAE hosted the Asian Cup for the first time, reaching the final but losing to Saudi Arabia 4-2 on penalties.
"We want to bring a victory for our fans, but we made too much passing errors after the break, sending Bahrain the opportunity to take the lead. We will take the lesson and play better in the next match against India," said UAE head coach Alberto Zaccheroni.
Despite the penalty kick,Bahrain manager Miroslav Soukup was satisfied with the result. "We played more aggressively and created more chances in the second half. It gives us a lot of confidence to prepare for the other two group matches."
