UAE gearing up for crucial qualifier tie

Dubai: The UAE national soccer team will meet Japan in a warm-up match on Thursday in preparation for their tough World Cup qualifier against South Korea next Wednesday in Seoul.

The team left on Monday early morning to Japan for a week's training camp under new coach French Dominique Bathenay, who succeeded his compatriot Bruno Metsu after he resigned and joined Qatar.

The match against Korea is crucial for the UAE after they lost the first two matches at home to North Korea and Saudi Arabia with identical 2-1 margins.

Missing players

A win against Korea will revive the UAE's hope of clinching a place in the World Cup Finals to be held in South Africa in 2010.

The team are missing many key players against Korea next week. Skipper Rashid Abdul Rahman and midfielders Abdul Rahim Juma (injured), Hilal Saeed, Subait Khater (suspended), while Saleh Obaid did not fit into the new coach's formula.

Bathenay spoke to the Japanese media saying that the Korea match was very important for the UAE and even the Koreans. He said the team will fight till the end to gain the three invaluable points despite the absence of key players.