UAE squad to assemble on Saturday

Abu Dhabi: The congregation of the UAE senior football squad has been pushed back by a day to Saturday in view of the UAE Olympic team's match against Uzbekistan on Wednesday.

The UAE will face the Uzbeks at Rashid Stadium in Al Ahli Club, in Dubai, in the qualifiers for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

A number of young players are expected to feature in the new-look line-up of the UAE team that enter the first phase of preparations for the finals of the 2007 Asian Cup, to be hosted in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam from July 7.

The UAE training camp will be held without the players of both Al Wahda and Al Ain who will play their last match in the first round of the Asian Champions League on May 23. Al Wahda travel to Kuwait to face Al Araby, while Al Ain host Al Ittihad of Syria.

Key players

The UAE team that won the 18th Gulf Cup included Esmail Mattar, Hayder Allo Ali, Abdul Rahim Jumaa, Fahad Masaoud and Basheer Saeed from Al Wahda and Moutaz Abdulla, Waleed Salem, Humaid Fakher, Hilal Saeed and Subait Khater from Al Ain.

The UAE will play two friendlies against Al Ahli and Al Nasr on May 21 and 22, respectively.

Meanwhile, the UAE FA has changed the programme of the team's training camp in Malaysia from June 13 to July 4. UAE will play friendly matches in Singapore. UAE side will travel to Singapore to play against Saudi Arabia on June 24, after playing against Malaysia on June 21.

The UAE will face Bahrain in Kuala Lumpur on June 27. The team will then travel to Indonesia to play against the national team on June 3 and travel to Vietnam on July 4 to prepare for their opening match against the hosts on July 8 in a group that also features Japan and Qatar.

It is expected that UAE head coach Bruno Metsu will invite some new young players to join the team.