Souza: The levels are close, and the view of Bahrain has changed.

It was held at 9:45 in the morning on Friday, January 6, 2033, in the Sayyab Hall at the Minawi Pasha Hotel. The Bahrain coach’s press conference, which precedes the UAE national team’s first match in the Gulf Cup group stage, began with the coach welcoming the attendees, then he talked about the tournament preparations, our work for 10 days since preparation, the perfect atmosphere, and the strong first match; we strive to develop our strengths, and we aspire to provide the best.

Regarding his use of one striker in the final list, which worries the Bahraini public, he replied: “I have seven strikers, not one.” I have six players capable of performing offensive tasks in addition to the outright striker.

And about his expectations for the championship in which he is the title holder, he said: “Having spent a long time in the region, I see the levels are close, and it is not possible to expect that the differences are very few, but our being the title holders gives us strong support and motivation to maintain the title.”

He added: “The UAE is a strong team, well prepared; we also prepared well, and our goal is to appear in the best form; we do not focus on excuses and pressures as much as we are looking for good work. Everyone now looks at us differently than before; everyone now counts us as a thousand accounts; we are the title holders.”

On the importance of holding the World Cup in the region: I was pleased to watch the Asian teams in the World Cup, which contributes greatly to the development of football in the region.

Regarding the pressure on the players, player Adnan Jaafar stressed: “We always strive to be fully prepared.” We enter a strong match against a team that has distinguished elements that participated in the World Cup qualifiers, and we seek to appear as the champion.