Beach soccer qualifier action today

Dubai: China will take on Oman, while Bahrain will face Uzbekistan in the opening matches of the Asian qualifiers for the 2009 Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup at Umm Suqeim Beach in Jumeirah today.

Kick-off for both games is at 3pm and entrance is free. The two matches will be followed by a third one between Australia and Iran, while the UAE will take on Japan in a friendly.

The Asian qualifiers will see the two finalists making it to the main draw of the 2009 Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup, to be staged at the same venue from November 16-22. With this week's qualifiers attracting only seven teams, hosts UAE have stepped in as the eighth side so that they could be divided into two pools of four each. Hence the UAE points will not be counted towards deciding the final two teams.

Group A has Japan, Bahrain, Uzbekistan and the UAE, while Group B is made up of Iran, China, Oman and Australia.

The first three days will see the preliminary round matches followed by the semifinals on November 10 and the final on the next day. On the final day, the UAE will play a friendly against former world champions France.