UAE Olympic team take on Bahrain in friendly tonight
dubai — The UAE Olympic team will play Bahrain in a friendly on Saturday night, as part of their preparations for the AFC Under-23 Championship China 2018 Qualifiers next month.
The 28-member squad have been undergoing training camps at the UAE Football Association (UAE FA) headquarters in Al Khawaneej over the past few days and will take on Bahrain at the FA’s premises.
There are many more camps and friendlies lined-up for the team in the build up to the qualifiers next month. A total of 40 teams will be hoping to be among the 16 to book their ticket for the tournament to be held in China from January 9 to 27, 2018.
The UAE have been drawn in Group D of the qualifiers and the other teams in their pool are Uzbekistan, Lebanon and Nepal. UAE are the host country for Group D and the matches will take place at the Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium in Al Ain from July 19 to 23. The UAE take on Nepal in their Group D opener.
The 10 group winners and the five best runners-up will qualify for the tournament. China, despite qualifying automatically as hosts, have opted to compete in the qualifiers. And in the event of China topping their group or if they finish among the five best runners-up, the sixth best runners-up will also make their way in.
“We have a good squad of players in the Olympic team and we have a great deal of responsibility and confidence in them. We have to prepare well for these qualifiers and win full points and lead the group to qualify,” team manager Jamal Bu Hindi told the UAE FA website.
The squad will have another training camp from June 27 to July 1 after which they will embark on a external training camp in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from July 2 to 6. They are scheduled to play two friendlies against Saudi Arabia on July 3 and 5.
The squad will be in Al Ain from July 7 to 14 during which they will play a friendly against Tajikistan on July 10.
“These friendlies will help the squad gain some valuable experience. It is also a good opportunity to learn about our strengths and weaknesses and rectify them before the tournament starts,” Bu Hindi added.
james@khaleejtimes.com