UAE coach confident of task ahead

Dubai: The coach of the UAE U-22 team is confident the tough qualifying process they have endured for next year’s AFC U-22 Championship will hold his men in good stead.

Badr Saleh also said the return of key players such as Ahmad Khalil and Omar Abdul Rahman, who are currently with the UAE Olympic squad, would boost his team next year.

The UAE finished behind Iraq on goal difference in the six-team Group A of the AFC U-22 qualifiers held in Muscat last week. The UAE started off with two wins — a 2-0 result against the hosts followed by a 1-0 victory over Turkmenistan — before stuttering to a 1-1 draw against India. However, they made amends in their next match when an Abdullah Al Shehi winner helped them triumph 4-3 over Lebanon, before they settled for a goalless draw with Iraq in their last match to finish with 11 points and grab one of two qualifying spots.

“We’ve had a tough qualifying round in Muscat. Our aim was to go out there and return home with one of the two qualifying spots and we did exactly that last week. Now we can look with a lot of hope for this squad to deliver on the bigger stage when the AFC U-22 Championship is held next year,” Badr Saleh told Gulf News after returning to Dubai last week.

“This was a tough competition. All teams were strong and it could have gone their way too. But I urged my players to keep their focus and ensure they do not lose sight of the qualifying spot on offer. It was the end of the season and I saw that my biggest hindrance was that none of the players were motivated enough to play at this time of the year,” Saleh said.

“Ultimately, the result was important and I am glad we went and got what we wanted.”

There were 41 teams involved in the qualifiers this time. The teams had been divided into seven groups, with only the best two from each group making it to the main competition next year along with an undecided host country and the best third-placed team.

As per the vision of the AFC, this competition will now serve as the Asian qualifiers for the Olympic Football Tournaments in the future.

“We missed key players in our team, such as Ahmad Khalil and Omar Abdul Rahman, who are currently with the Olympic squad, but who are eligible to play in the tournament next year. They will be valuable additions. There is no doubt that this team can continue the trend that has been started by the Olympic squad,” the coach said.

The UAE and Iraq will join Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Kuwait, Jordan, Uzbekistan, North Korea, South Korea, China and Myanmar in the AFC U-22 Championship next year. Matches in the Group E qualification group, which involves Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Macau and Timor Leste, will conclude on July 15.