Dubai: With a packed international season ahead of them, the UAE national beach soccer team are keen to make the best of their break following the conclusion of the UAE Beach Soccer League last weekend.
First up for them will be the Second Asian Cup to be held in July in China followed by three tournaments in October.
The Asian leg of qualifiers for the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup will be in Doha in the first half of October followed by the GCC Beach Games in the same place immediately after that. Also in October, there is set to be a third tournament, with Dubai most likely playing host to the GCC Beach Soccer Championships.
Al Ahli were crowned league champions for the third time in a row last Saturday and their coach-cum-skipper Qambhar Mohammad was among those eager to make the best of the break before the international competitions get going.
“The players need time to nurse minor injuries before the international calendar gets under way. We have to also make up for lost time with the family due to the eight weeks of the league,” Qambhar Mohammad told Gulf News.
Things will be different this time as the UAE will be deprived of the services of their long-time coach Marcelo Mendes, whose contract was not renewed.
The Brazilian has since begun a new with the Japan national team.
Al Nasr captain Ali Karim, who helped his team to the runners-up spot with a hat-trick in their last match against Al Wasl, was equally wary of the schedule ahead. “We need to plan ahead and ensure we are best prepared for the tough round of competitions,” Karim said.
Adel Al Rahe, his teammate at Al Nasr and a mainstay with the national squad for the past four years, was equally concerned about the tough assignments ahead for the team. “I agree everything will come down to planning for the national team. But for the time being, we need to recover adequately and then start preparations for the international competitions,” Al Rahe said.
The final competition of the year will be the Samsung Inter-Continental Cup, which will be bring all continental champions together in Dubai from November 4-8.
