National squads begin training ahead of friendlies

Abu Dhabi: The UAE senior and youth football teams have started their training in preparation for their friendly matches against South Korea on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

The senior team gathered in Sharjah and trained under the supervision of Dominique Bathenay, the caretaker coach.

Only Ali Al Waheebi trained with the medical staff because of his injury while Hilal Saeed was absent as his wife had just delivered a baby.

The South Korean team, one of the finalists of the World Cup in Germany this summer, will arrive today and will face the UAE on Wednesday at Maktoum Stadium in Al Shabab Club in Dubai.

The South Korean youth team will face their UAE counterparts on Thursday at Rashid Stadium at Al Ahli Club, also in Dubai.

The UAE seniors are preparing for the qualifiers of the 2007 Asian Cup while the youngsters are preparing for the finals of the Asian Youth Championship which will be held in India in November this year.

The youth team held their first training session at Maktoum Stadium yesterday. The list of players included Mahmoud Qasim, Hamdan Qasim and Abdullah Abdul Rahman, from Ahli, Ali Khaseef and Khalif Ali from Al Jazira, Tilal Hamad, Sharjah, Fawzi Fayez, Abdullah Moussa, Nasir Khamis, Mussallam Fayez and Ahmad Saeed Al Shamsi from Al Ain, Mohammad Ebrahim, Khalid Sabeel and Amer Mubarak from Al Nasr, Rashid Saeed, Mohammad Saeed Al Shihhi, Saeed Al Kathiri, Yasir Abdullah, Abdullah Bilal Al Noobi, Mahmoud Khamis, Eissa Ahmad, Mohammad Othman and Abdullah Hilal Al Kathiri, all from Al Wahda.

The senior team gathered in Sharjah and trained under the supervision of Dominique Bathenay, the caretaker coach, ahead of the South Korea game.