UAE to step up 2018 World Cup qualification hopes in Spain

Mahdi Ali names 25-man squad for training camp ahead of start of Group B campaign in September

The UAE football team.

Abu Dhabi: Mahdi Ali, the UAE coach, had in March vowed to improve the Whites’ preparations for major games after his side had progressed to the third and final qualification phase for the 2018 Russia World Cup.

True to his word, Ali took an experimental squad to the King’s Cup in Thailand earlier this month in a bid to increase competition for places and has now named a 25-man squad for a Spanish training camp from July 10 and August 11.

Ali’s men will play five friendlies against Spanish sides during this time, ostensibly ample preparation for the third and final round of Asian World Cup qualifiers which begin on September 1 with a trip to Japan and which lasts a year.

The UAE, who are in Group B with Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Thailand, will be without the injured Esmail Mattar, Mahmoud Khamis and Majid Hassan for their Spanish sojourn.

Otherwise, all their first-team regulars are available alongside exciting youngsters such as Al Jazira’s 19-year-old midfielder Sultan Al Shamsi, who scored a spectacular strike on debut in a 3-1 defeat against Jordan in the King’s Cup in Thailand, and the Al Wahda duo of Mohammad Al Akberi and Khalid Bawazir.

UAE SQUAD

Majid Naser (gk), Abdul Aziz Haikal, Abdula Aziz Sanqour, Walid Abbas, Khamis Esmail, Habib Al Fardan, Esmail Al Hammadi, Ahmad Khalil (Al Ahli); Khalid Eissa, Esmail Ahmad, Mohammad Ahmad, Mohannad Salem, Mohammad Abdul Rahman, Mohammad Fawzi, Omar Abdul Rahman (Al Ain); Ali Khaseif, Fares Juma, Sultan Al Shamsi, Ali Mabkhout (Al Jazira); Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammad Al Akberi, Khalid Bawazir (Al Wahda;) Amer Abdul Rahman (Bani Yas); Hassan Ebrahim (Al Shabab); Salem Saleh (Al Nasr).

Coach: Mahdi Ali.

 

Source:: Gulf News | Sports

UAE to step up 2018 World Cup qualification hopes in Spain

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