Abu Dhabi: The UAE football team left on Saturday for Doha, Qatar, where they will hold a training camp until January 3 to prepare for the 21st Gulf Cup in Bahrain.

The UAE will compete in Group A in the regional tournament, which takes place from January 5 to 18, with hosts Bahrain, Oman and Qatar, who they play on the opening day,

The team have two friendly matches lined up in their training camp, against Yemen on December 25 and another one on December 29 against an as yet unnamed opponent. The UAE FA is talking with several teams after original opponents Tajikistan said they could not make it Doha.

Mahdi Ali, the head coach, has invited 23 players to join the camp. They are: Al Ahli players Abdul Aziz Haikal, Abdul Aziz Sangoor, Esmail Al Hammadi, Majed Hassan and Ahmad Khalil; Mohammad Fawzi, Amer Abdul Rahman and Habbosh Saleh from Bani Yas; Ali Khaseef, Khalid Eissa, Ali Al Ameri, Abdullah Moussa, Khamis Esmail and Ali Mabkhoot from Al Jazira; Waleed Abbass from Al Shabab; Habib Fardan from Al Nasr; Mohammad Ahmad, Omar Abdul Rahman, Dawood Sulaiman and Muhannad Al Enazy from Al Ain; Hamdan Al Kamali, Esmail Mattar and Saeed Al Kathiri from Al Wahda.

Mattar, the team’s captain and star striker who is currently injured, did not leave with the team yesterday. He stayed in Abu Dhabi for treatment and was due to join up with his teammates on Sunday.