UAE name 23-man squad for Thailand and Saudi Arabia

The UAE coach Mahdi Ali yesterday named a 23-man squad for next month’s 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers against Thailand and Saudi Arabia. The squad — which carries no surprises and which only lacks Ah Ali’s injured midfielder Majid Hassan — will train at the UAE Football Association’s Al Khawaneej headquarters on Monday.

Ali’s men will then head to Abu Dhabi on September 29, where they will host Thailand in their third Group B qualifier at the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium on October 6.

The Whites, who lie fourth in the group after beating Japan 2-1 away and losing 1-0 at home to Australia earlier this month, will then travel to Saudi Arabia on October 11.

Only a top-two finish in Group B will guarantee the UAE progression to only their second World Cup after Italia 1990.

The Al Ain players in the squad will miss the first phase of training next week given their AFC Champions League semi-final first-leg commitments at home to El Jaish on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the UAE have moved up eight places to 66 in the latest Fifa world rankings thanks to their victory over higherranked Japan. Their ranking puts them seventh among the best countries in Asia, with Iran currently rated the best at 37 and the reigning Asian champions Australia second in 45th.

UAE SQUAD

Majid Nasser, Abdul Aziz Sanquor, Walid Abbas, Khamis Esmail, Habib Fardan, Esmail Al Hammadi, Ahmad Khalil (Al Ahli); Khalid Eissa, Muhannad Anzi, Mohammad Ahmad, Mohammad Fayez, Omar Abdul Rahman, Amer Abdul Rahman, Saeed Al Kathiri (Al Ain); Ali Khaseif, Mohammad Fawzi, Ali Mabkhout (Al Jazira); Hamdan Al Kamali (Al Wahda); Salim Saleh, Tariq Ahmed (Al Nasr); Hassan Ebrahim (Al Shabab); Habboush Saleh (Bani Yas).