Abu Dhabi: The UAE national football team will take on Myanmar in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Friday as they prepare for the more demanding tasks of two crucial 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.

The decision to play without their supporters’ backing at Zayed Sports City appears to be a tacit move to avoid their future opponents from gleaning too much information.

The game, which is the UAE’s first against the country formerly known as Burma, will also not be televised.

The UAE will be hoping for a convincing and morale-boosting victory, however, with their opponents ranked 99 places below them in the Fifa rankings at 162. Myanmar, known as the White Angels, drew 2-2 with Laos and lost 2-0 to South Korea in their opening World Cup qualifiers in June.

The UAE kicked off their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win away to East Timor in neutral Malaysia in June.

Mahdi Ali’s men will play their second World Cup qualifier against Malaysia at the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium next Thursday. They then head to Palestine for another qualifier on September 8 and will prepare for the latter in Jordan from September 4.

If successful in progressing to Russia 2018, it would be only the second time the Whites have reached the global showpiece after they competed at the 1990 tournament in Italy.

The top teams from all eight second-round World Cup qualifying groups progress to the third round, along with the four best runners-up. In the third round, which comprises two groups of six teams, the top two will qualify for the World Cup, while the two third-placed teams will enter intercontinental play-offs.

Seventeen players gathered at a UAE training squad at the Hilton Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

The squad was without their Al Ahli contingent, however, with the Red Knights in Asian Champions League quarter-final action against Naft Tehran on Wednesday evening.

Al Ahli players such as striker Ahmad Khalil were set to link up with the squad on Thursday.

After the Palestine match next month, the UAE will play Saudi Arabia away on October 8 and East Timor at home on November 12.

They will then travel to Malaysia on November 17, before hosting Palestine on March 24 and Saudi Arabia on March 29.