Keeping this bunch together 'a must'

Abu Dhabi: Most of the members of the UAE FA and football officials have agreed the youth team should be kept together not only for the finals of the Under 20 World Cup next year in Egypt, but also for the qualifiers of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and for the qualifiers of the 2014 World Cup.

Rashid Al Zaabi, head of the delegation in Saudi Arabia, told Gulf News: "Keeping this team is a must if we want to have a capable team in the future. These boys have proved their worth by winning the Asian Championship.

"They are well-organised, disciplined and highly talented. As a group they have complete mutual understanding of each other despite the fact that they play for different clubs.

"We, in the UAE FA, will be keen to provide them with the chance to earn more experience by organising friendly tournaments and matches against strong teams and we will have to be patient for them to grow better in time."

Mohammad Mattar Ghorab, Chairman of the FA Competitions Committee, said: "The team's preparation will be continuous. They will soon start preparing for the finals of the Under 20 World Cup in Egypt next year and after that they will form the UAE Olympic Under 23 team to take part in the qualifiers of the 2012 Olympic Games and after that they will be upgraded to the senior team to take part in the qualifiers of the 2014 World Cup.

"But the problem is that most of the players are not playing with the clubs in the domestic competitions and the FA cannot force the clubs to use certain players, the responsibility of that decision is shouldered by the clubs' coaches and managements and we expect them to cooperate with the FA and do what is good for the country."

Yasir Salem, the former UAE and Al Wahda striker and administrator for the youth team, said: "I do believe that this team features the best talented players that the UAE has ever born. They are disciplined, passionate, gifted, motivated and fighters."