Marwijk: We will play to win

Dutch coach Van Marwijk has confirmed that UAE will play against Iraq in the second round of the Gulf Championship 24 to win.

“We only had two days to heal and I used to take part in other competitions where there is more time to prepare and get back, but this is the case for all teams and we cannot do much in two days and we rely on fitness,” he told the pre-confrontation press conference.

“I said earlier that no matter what happens, after the Vietnam game I prepared for this tournament and we will try to focus on performance which is very important in terms of the level of development.”

Marwijk said: “Iraq is a strong team physically and mentally. I played against Iraq when I was coach of Saudi Arabia and I know their strengths, and what they gave against Qatar confirms their strength and presence in the stadium.”

“Everyone knows that we started months ago and we have young players. We want to win every game in the tournament. We need time to develop and upgrade the players.”

On his plan for Iraq: “We train daily in a special way and I like to attack, but sometimes we have to change some things, and we will start to face Iraq in a way that leads us to win.”