Few Emirati players came out of Thursday night’s 2-1 win over Bahrain with as much credit as Mohanad Salem.

It is a measure of the team’s defensive struggles in the first half that the reliance on the commanding defender was highlighted more than ever with him sitting on the bench for the entire match.

Mahdi Ali had sprung a minor surprise by leaving out the Al Ain man in favour of his club mate Mohammed Ahmed, who had lost his starting place in the opening match against Qatar to Hamdan Al Kamali.

With Ahmed and Salem long established as the coach’s favoured pairing, there were concerns before kick off that the latter had been injured.

Mahdi Ali was able to allay everyone’s fears.

“Mohanad Salem wasn’t injured, just some muscle aches but nothing that would have stopped him from starting,” Mahdi Ali said. “But we preferred to do some rotation.”

Those questioning the decision would do well to remember that the coach has consistently said that “there are no reserves in this group”, meaning everyone must be ready to step in when called upon.

There was certain logic, too, to resting his most dependable defender in a match he probably thought was winnable without him, while at the same time ensuring his back-up players are not ring rusty for the coming challenges.

It cannot be ignored that the man who has started both matches in defence, Al Kamali, has come under increased ­scrutiny.

Both goals conceded by the UAE in this tournament have been attributed to defensive errors. Certainly at half-time of the Bahrain match, many Emirati fans on Twitter let it be known who they thought deserved the blame.

In fairness to Al Kamali, the defence withstood whatever Bahrain threw at them in the second half relatively comfortably, as they had done against Qatar for the majority of the first match.

It will be an even bigger surprise, however, if Mahdi Ali does not re-unite the Al Ain central defensive partnership for the final group match against Iran on Monday.

With the UAE able to qualify as group winners with a draw, Carlos Queiroz’s Iran side have the greater incentive to attack. The understanding between Ahmed and Salem will be needed.

Tomorrow’s clash with Iran will decide who tops Group C and avoids favourites Japan in the quarter-final and then hosts Australia in a potential ­semi-final.

The winners will have a much more realistic chance of making a run for the final, with South Korea, Iraq or Jordan and Uzbekistan or Saudi Arabia likely to be in the top half of the draw.

Expect Salem to be back at the heart of the UAE defence for such an important game, but if he is not it would not be the first time we have been thrown a curveball by Mahdi Ali.

akhaled@thenational.ae

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