Abu Dhabi: The UAE’s preparations for the forthcoming 2018 World Cup qualifiers have been dealt a blow after their goalkeeper and captain Majid Nasser broke his right thumb during the Whites’ summer training camp in Spain.
The 32-year-old shot-stopper will be sidelined for between three or four weeks and has been replaced in the UAE squad by Bani Yas’s new goalkeeper Ahmad Dida.
The 27-year-old, who was a teammate of Nasser’s at Al Ahli before his move to the Sky Blues last week, was due to arrive in Spain on Friday evening.
Nasser, the reigning Arabian Gulf League Goalkeeper of the Year, will now face a race against time to be fit for both the new domestic season and the third and final World Cup qualifiers.
The Whites, who are in Asian Group B with Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Thailand, kick these off on September 1 away to the Japanese.
Nasser, who has 69 caps for his country, said he was determined to play his part in the UAE’s quest to reach only their second World Cup after their Italia 1990 debut.
“Every player is at risk of injury and I will try and work hard on my treatment in order to be ready for the qualifiers,” he said late on Thursday. “We have an important goal of reaching the World Cup and we will fight for this dream.”
He added that the UAE — who are playing five friendlies against Spanish sides in their month-long camp, which finishes on August 10 — are literally in good hands without him.
Dida joins two other goalkeepers in coach Mahdi Ali’s 25-man squad, Khalid Eissa of Al Ain and Al Jazira’s number one Ali Khaseif, who are “among the best in the league” according to Nasser.
