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Allo Ali to skip final practice session due to injury
Warm-up match against Oman was a good experiment on eve of the World Cup qualifier, says UAE manager.
- By Sayed Ali, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:16 March 23, 2008
Dubai: The UAE national football team resumed training on Saturday at the Al Nasr Stadium after returning from Muscat where they played a 1-1 warm-up against Oman last Wednesday.
The UAE team leaves tomorrow for Damascus to meet Syria in the World Cup qualifiers Group E at the Al Abasyeen Stadium on March 26. UAE top Group E with three points from a 2-0 win in their first match against Kuwait in Abu Dhabi last month.
"Our last training session will be today before we leave tomorrow for the qualifier in Syria. All the 21 players are taking part except Haydar Allo Ali, who is suffering from an injury," said Abdullah Hasan, the UAE team manager, following their first training session yesterday morning at Al Nasr Stadium on returning from Muscat. Hasan said three of the Al Wahda players and the Al Wasl duo have joined the training camp and will leave tomorrow for Syria. The five players were busy with their clubs in the Asian Champions League matches held last Wednesday.
Good experiment
The UAE team manager said the warm-up match against Oman was a good experiment before meeting Syria. "The Oman warm-up was a good trial for us and it achieved the objectives which Bruno Metsu was looking for.
"All the players (17) who were in Muscat took part in the match except Ahmad Dada, who was sidelined due to a light injury. However, Dada will be ready for the Syria match next Wednesday," said Hasan.
The UAE delegation to Syria will be chaired by FA board chairman Mohammad Khalfan Al Rumaithi, along with technical, administrative and medical staff and 21 players.
The Squad: Goalkeepers: Majid Naser, Esmail Rabea, Obaid Tawila; Defence: Rashid Abdul Rahman, Mohammad Qasim, Bashir Saeed, Tariq Hasan, Obaid Khalifa, Faiz Juma; Midfielders: Mohammad Ebrahim, Hilal Saeed, Abdullah Mal Allah, Darwish Ahmad, Sibait Khater, Esmail Hammady, Ahmad Dada; Forwards: Saif Mohammad, Faisal Khalil, Esmail Mattar, Ahmad Khalil, Mohammad Sheh'hi.
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