The UAE national football team drew 1-1 with French club Lens in their first warm up match in France where they are conducting a two-week training camp in Saint Etienne.

They arrived last Thursday after ending the first period of their training in Switzerland in preparation for the second round of World Cup qualifiers.

Mohammed Ibrahim scored for UAE in the first session from the spot. Ibrahim made no mistake in converting the spot kick.

The French club levelled the score before the end of the first session. The UAE performed well in the match. Coach Abdullah Saqr formed a different line up in his first warm up match in France. Zuhair Bakhit and Fahd Masood, who are unfit, didn't play in yesterday's match.

The second UAE match will be against Saint Etienne on July 20 and the third and last warm up match will be on July 24 against Leon before they return to the UAE on July 26 to continue their training camp in Abu Dhabi.

The team will play two strong warm up matches on August 2 against Iraq and on August 8 against Saudi Arabia. The UAE will play the first match in the World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan on August 17 in Abu Dhabi.