Cosmin Olăroiu, the coach of the UAE national team, confirmed that his team faced a strong and highly skilled opponent, the Algerian national team, but they managed to win and advance to the semifinals of the Arab Cup.

The UAE national team defeated the Algerian team 7-6 on penalties after the match ended in a 1-1 draw in regular and extra time, advancing the UAE to the Arab Cup semifinals.

Cosmin said in statements after the match: "We overcame a strong team with very high-quality players. I thank the players and congratulate them on this qualification."

He added: "We were unlucky for a long time, but today we were fortunate in the penalty shootout. They outperformed us in the first half, but in the second half, we were better."

He continued: "I hope we continue our journey to the end in this tournament. We have qualified, and that is the most important thing."

The Romanian coach was asked if he had expected to reach this stage of the tournament before it began. He replied, "Why not? We delivered a great performance against Jordan, and now we have shown a good level and proven that we are a strong team. I hope we continue like this."

Cosmin concluded: "Morocco's style is similar to Algeria's, and we will try to give our best to go as far as possible in this tournament."