What will Coach Park and his students do to stop the 'twin' Ali Mabkhout - Fabio Lima?

The “twin strikers” Ali Mabkhout - Fabio Lima scored in all 3 matches against Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Number 7 Ali Mabkhout only played the role of “decoy” in the match against Thailand, not directly scoring, but in the 2 matches against Malaysia and Indonesia, he and number 15 Fabio Lima scored a double.

Ability to score

The duo Ali Mabkhout and Fabio Lima have scored 9 out of 12 goals in the last 3 matches. Photo: AFC.

The coordination between the number 1 striker in the history of UAE football and the naturalized Brazilian player has reached perfection. Remember, this is only the 9th time Fabio Lima has played for the UAE team but he has managed to score 6 goals, an impressive scoring efficiency. Mr. Park must certainly spend considerable time studying this duo as they have scored 9 of the last 12 goals of the UAE team.

Why did the three coaches of the Malaysian, Thai and Indonesian teams all know the killer ability of the two UAE attackers but could not neutralize it? Before Japanese coach Akira Nishino could deploy his play, UAE scored a goal in the 14th minute, so all his plans were ruined. UAE coach Bert van Marwijk used both Ali Mabkhout and Fabio Lima as a feint, a move that made it too late for the Thai players to see Caio (11) had space.

When scoring early, the UAE players played high-level pessing, so the Thai players, despite having good physical strength and technique, had no space or time to react. Thailand's lesson made us vigilant, if we let the UAE players score first, it would be extremely difficult to turn the situation around. Furthermore, Ali Mabkhout and Fabio Lima were the most dangerous strikers, but coach Bert van Marwijk could still use them as "decoys", Thailand fell into the trap.

The story is different for Korean coach Shin Tae-Yong, the Indonesian team no longer has a goal when facing UAE. It seems that coach Shin Tae-Yong wants his students to feel what high-level pessing is like, so he lets the Indonesian players play an open game. It is natural that Indonesia will collapse and if they need a goal, UAE can increase the score to more than 5.

When receiving the ball in the first step, Ali Mabkhout and Fabio Lima both have 3 or 4 options to deal with the situation. Photo: AFC

This was a match in which the duo Ali Mabkhout and Fabio Lima each scored a double. Both scored, assisted and of course took on the task of harassing, which is not uncommon for a “3 in 1” striker. First of all, both have a good physical foundation, a style of play that moves a lot, and take on the defensive role from a distance, making the opposing defenders uneasy.

Solution

With the ability to turn, change direction, and shield the ball well, as soon as they receive the ball, Ali Mabkhout and Fabio Lima both have 3 or 4 options to deal with the situation. That makes it seem like no Southeast Asian player can keep up with these two players in a 1-on-1 situation. If we use two central midfielders who both have a tendency to play technically to control these two players, it will be a heart-stopping solution for the defense.

Thailand's experience when facing UAE is that the goalkeeper must play the ball with his feet like a sweeper to reduce the pressure on the centre-backs. The important thing is that against a much weaker opponent than Thailand, coach Bert van Marwijk made 5 substitutions, something he did not do in the previous 2 matches. If the Argentine-born number 20 Sebastian replaces the striker Ali Mabkhout, the remaining 4 substitutions are all aimed at the centre. Is he not confident about the ability of the centre-back to provide the ball to the attack, specifically the duo Ali Mabkhout and Fabio Lima?