UAE READY TO TAKE ON ANDORRA IN FRIENDLY
DUBAI: UAE, the hosts of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, will continue their preparations with a friendly against Andorra at the Das Goldberg Stadion in Austria on Saturday.
It will be the UAE’S first international friendly since their participation in the 2018 King’s Cup in Thailand last March, where they missed out on a third place finish after suffering a 1-0 loss to Gabon.
With the continental showpiece set to take place in January 2019, UAE are undertaking a series of training camps and international friendlies.
Head coach Alberto Zaccheroni has gathered a 27-man squad for their first of five training camps in Salzburg since the beginning of August, and UAE have already played several friendly matches with Austrian and Italian clubs.
After their match against Andorra, the Whites will return home before they depart for Girona, Spain for a two-week boot camp in September, with matches against Trinidad & Tobago (Sept.6) and Laos (Sept.11) respectively.
From Oct.6 to 16, UAE will be based in Barcelona for their third camp.
Their last two more camps will be held domestically from Nov. 6-20 and Dec. 15-31, with two more friendlies also expected to be announced.
In nine Asian Cup appearances, the UAE’S best finish was as runners-up to Saudi Arabia on home soil in 1996. They also finished third in their last outing in Australia in 2015.
The UAE are in Group A of the AFC Asian Cup 2019 alongside Thailand, India and Bahrain.
The UAE 2019 AFC Asian Cup promises to be another spectacular show as the AFC Asian Cup will see 24 teams battling for the title.
The expanded format will see Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines and Yemen making their debut in the Jan.5-feb.1 extravaganza played in eight world class stadiums.
The teams will be vying for a stunning new trophy lifted for the first time since the inaugural edition in 1956 and at stake will also be a $14.8m prize purse, setting the stage for the biggest and best ever AFC Asian Cup.