Asian Cup: Big stage no problem for championship debutants Yemen, says coach

Yemen will be making their Asian Cup debut when they face three-time champions Iran on Monday and while the players are set to be thrust into the limelight like never before the team’s assistant coach is confident stage fright will not be an issue.

Milos Brozek said Yemen, the tournament’s lowest-ranked national team at No 135, had nothing to lose when they face the highly fancied Iranians in Abu Dhabi.

“Sometimes if you are somewhere for the first time you don’t really realise just how big it is,” the Czech said in a telephone interview. “We will show our best without any problems with nerves.”

The path to the 24-team competition was an unlikely one for a nation embroiled in a nearly four-year long war that has killed more than 10,000 people and triggered the world’s most urgent humanitarian crisis with the country on the brink of famine.

Their journey has been a rare source of good news for both the country and its players, who play abroad because the war has forced the suspension of the national league.

“We have players from all over Yemen,” Brozek said. “Sometimes we talk with the players about the conflict but we keep the focus on football.

“We have had big support from Yemeni supporters around the Gulf and we see how the people support the players.”