Abu Dhabi: Alberto Zaccheroni on Monday evening named his squad for the Gulf Cup, which begins in Kuwait this month.
The regional tournament, originally scheduled to be held in Qatar, will now be held from December 22 to January 6.
The participating countries are hosts Kuwait, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Iraq and Yemen.
The 64-year-old Zaccheroni, who took over from Mahdi Ali in the middle of October, has included members of Al Jazira’s squad that made it to the semi-finals of the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, including striker Ali Mabkhout.
However there was no place for Ali Khaseif, the veteran Al Jazira goalkeeper, who picked up an injury in the Club World Cup semi-final defeat to eventual winners Real Madrid. In his place, his young club teammate Sultan Al Montheri has been drafted in.
Star midfielder Omar Abdul Rahman is also in the travelling party, along with his brother and Al Ain teammate Mohammad.
Zaccheroni’s start to his new assignment resulted in a 1-0 loss to Haiti in a friendly on November 10 but he picked up his first win as manager with a 1-0 over Uzbekistan in their second friendly four days later.
The UAE played a training friendly against Iraq at Al Wasl Stadium on Sunday.
UAE Squad
Mohammad Hassan, Khalid Easa, Sultan Al Montheri, Mohammad Ahmad, Khalifa Mubarak, Faris Juma, Muhannad Al Enazi, Mohammad Al Menhali, Salem Al Azizi, Esmail Ahmad, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammad Marzouq, Mohammad Fawzi, Ahmad Burman, Mohammad Abdul Rahman, Khamis Esmail, Rayan Yaslam, Esmail Al Hammadi, Ali Salmeen, Omar Abdul Rahman, Ahmad Mal Allah, Ali Mabkhout, Ahmad Al Hashemi
