Al Ain juniors back in action

After having a three-day rest following their 23-day warm-up camp held in France, Al Ain under-18 juniors squad were back to field yesterday.

Their external camp came as part of their preparations to the GCC league cup winners championship, to be hosted by Al Sad of Qatar from August 21 to September 1.

Al Ain outfit, champions of the league and the President's Cup in the last two seasons, are also getting ready to defend their title in the forthcoming season.

"The camp was very successful and our players are ready to get into the GCC fray. Both the players and their technical body, led by the Egyptian coach Hamdi Noh, have exerted great efforts during the training sessions.

"The technical, physical and psychological conditions of the players are quite convincing," said Khalid Salim, the team manager.

Al Ain juniors played five games during their external camp in France. They lost their opening match 0-4 to a second division under-18 team composed of professional juniors.

But they made up for this big defeat with a 5-2 and 3-2 victories over a third and second division teams respectively.

Al Ain played the fourth friendly game against English Sheffield United under-18 professional juniors, who were holding a similar warm up camp at the same venue. The English boys won 2-1.

The UAE junior league champions concluded their games with a hard-fought 2-3 defeat to Oksair club champions of the French Under-19 league.

Al Ain team's technical body was satisfied with the result after the players demonstrated a neat game.

Al Ain juniors will conclude their preparations on Tuesday when they take on UAE junior National team at Qattara stadium.

The UAE squad are also gearing up for the Asian juniors qualifications, due to kick off in the Qatari capital Doha on August 15.

Al Ain juniors are scheduled to fly to Doha on August 18 to participate in the GCC juniors championship.

They are to compete against hosts Al Sad of Qatar, Al Shabab of Saudi Arabia, Al Ahli from Bahrain, Qadiseya of Kuwait and Suwaiq from Oman.