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Asian Cup Preview: Iran v UAE

Iran and United Arab Emirates have qualified for the Asian Cup quarter-finals, but their clash on Monday is important for a different reason.

Topping Group C is likely to be a huge advantage, with the second-placed team set to meet Japan in the last eight.

Carlos Queiroz's men dominated Bahrain in a 2-0 win and overcame Qatar 1-0 in their most recent outing.

In Ali Mabkhout, UAE have a player who has scored three times – second most for the tournament.

"Of course I’m very close to Ali Mabkhout and very happy that because of his performances he is the leading scorer for this competition," he said.

"We will work very hard to help them score more in the coming matches and hope that one of them will finish as the competition’s top scorer."