UAE U-16 squad leave for Croatia

dubai — The UAE Under-16 squad left from Dubai on Sunday morning to prepare for the AFC Under-16 Qualifiers, scheduled to take place in September.

A 26-member squad flew out of the Dubai International Airport to Zagreb, Croatia, for an external training camp, ahead of the Qualifiers. The squad will undergo training under new coach Ferdo Milin.

The 39-year-old Croatian previously coached the Croatian Under-19 side before taking up the job with the UAE Under-16 squad.

The squad will remain in Zagreb until August 4 before travelling to Slovenia to participate in an international friendly tournament scheduled to be held from August 4 to 15. The UAE are set to play three friendlies during the tournament.

The Qualifiers are scheduled to be held from September 16 to 29. Forty-five teams from West Asia and East Asia have been drawn into 10 groups. The UAE are placed in Group E for the Qualifiers and include Yemen, Bangladesh and Qatar.

And the 10 group winners and the five best runners-up qualify for the final tournament to be held from September 20 to October 7, 2018. The venue for the main Championship is yet to be confirmed by the AFC.

The top four teams of the tournament will qualify for the 2019 Fifa U-17 World Cup as the AFC representatives.

The UAE squad had assembled at the UAE Football Association (UAEFA) headquarters in Al Khawaneej from July 2 to 6 for their first training camp and then linked up again from July 9 to 13. The third training camp was held from July 16 to 20.

Milin’s support staff includes Abdul Rahman Al Haddad as assistant coach and Yousuf Al Zaabi as the goalkeepers’ coach.