Overview
- The UAE beat Yemen 4-0 on Thursday to open Gulf Cup 27, giving new coach Zlatko Dalić a winning start in his first official match in charge.
- Dalić used a 26-player squad with goalkeeper Khalid Isa starting and Yuri Cesar making his first senior start, despite a short preparation window of only a handful of training sessions.
- A penalty initially awarded to the UAE was overturned by VAR for offside, and an experienced referee later said the decision lacked use of the calibrated line system that helps settle tight offside calls.
- FIFA approved two law trials for Gulf Cup 27 on September 22: one to deter goalkeepers feigning injury to waste time and another to cancel goals when an attacker illegally pushes a defender on set pieces.
- The win puts the UAE on three points but keeps pressure on the team to sustain form, while the VAR dispute and the FIFA experiments are likely to increase refereeing scrutiny through the group matches against Bahrain and Qatar.