Abu Dhabi: The second Al Ain International Football Friendly Tournament will kick off tomorrow with the participation of Al Rifaa from Bahrain, Al Shabab from Oman and Al Ittihad from Syria in addition to the hosts.
The tournament, held under the patronage of Shaikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the First Vice-President and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the club, is the best preparation for the team before the kick off of the UAE Professional Football League (UFL) later this month and also it will help the team before entering the play offs of the AFC Champions League.
Dr Khalid Mohammad Abdullah, the chief executive officer of the club and the tournament director, has confirmed that all preparations to guarantee a successful competition have finished and the teams have arrived in Al Ain.
Schedule
The opening match of the tournament, at 9.30pm, will be between Al Rifaa and Al Shabab followed at 11.30pm by the encounter between the hosts, Al Ain and Al Ittihad from Syria. On Wednesday, August 18, Al Shabab will face Al Ittihad at 9:30pm while Al Ain will play against Al Rifaa at 11:30pm.
On Saturday, August 21, Al Ittihad will play against Al Rifaa at 9:30pm while Al Ain and Al Shabab will feature in the final match of the round robin competition.
Al Ain has already resumed their domestic training sessions on Thursday night after returning from Austria where they held their external training camp.
It is expected that Esmail Ahmad, Faris Juma and Mohammad Fayez, the three injured defenders will take part in the tournament to confirm their recovery, while custodian Yousuf Abdul Rahman, and midfielder, Omar Abdul Rahman will join their colleagues after helping the UAE to win the Gulf Under 23 Cup in Qatar last week.
Also, it is expected that a replacement for Chilean striker Jorge Valdivia who left the club will be disclosed during the tournament.
