Sport | Football
UAE team to begin training camp today
The UAE national team start a nine-day training camp in Abu Dhabi today to prepare for their World Cup qualifier against Kuwait on February 6.
- By Sayed Ali, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:22 January 29, 2008
Dubai: The UAE national team start a nine-day training camp in Abu Dhabi today to prepare for their World Cup qualifier against Kuwait on February 6.
The team will play their final warm-up match against Iraq on Thursday at the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi. UAE coach Bruno Metsu has selected 21 players for the matches against Iraq and Kuwait.
Meanwhile, the UAE Football Association technical committee has sought to close the disciplinary issue against the national team players who allegedly went out of the training camp on the night before their friendly against AC Milan on January 8.
Mohammad Bin Dokhan, the head of the FA technical committee, said in a press conference the team will play very important matches in the coming days and the players need to concentrate on that.
"We will meet Kuwait in the World Cup qualifiers on February 6, which requires us to prepare very well and concentrate on this important mission without disturbing the players," said Bin Dokhan.
The issue started last week when an Arabic daily published pictures, claiming they featured the UAE national team players while they were either leaving their team hotel or returning, late after mid night.
"We have asked the paper and the hotel management to supply us with the pictures and the videotape of the incident, but they didn't send them to us. We visited the hotel and watched the videotape, but didn't find any evidence to accuse the players," said Bin Dokhan.
UAE Squad: Majid Naser, Esmail Rabea, Rashid Abdul Rahman, Mohammad Qasim, Bashir Saeed, Haydar Allo Ali, Abdullah Mal Allah, Saif Mohammad, Darwish Ahmad, Hilal Saeed, Obaid Khalifa, Tariq Hasan, Mohammad Al Shehi, Abdullah Al Nouby, Esmail Mattar, Faisal Khalil, Ahmad Khalil, Surour Salim, Ahmad Mohammad Mubarak, Nawaf Mubarak and Subait Khater.
Share this article
More from Football
More from Sport
Popular in Sport
-
Sport
Beach soccer action
Action from the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup at the Umm Suqueim Beach
Sport Editor's choice
-
Sea Dubai eyes RC44 Gold Cup
Ten teams from nine countries will vie for the champion's title
-
Kings of the court
The world's top tennis players who will battle in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals
-
Rugby pass masters
A focus on the ones to watch ahead of Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens
