UAE team to begin final preparations

The UAE youth football team gathered yesterday at Millennium Hotel in Abu Dhabi to start their final preparations for Asian Youth Championship finals, to be held in Doha, Qatar, from October 15-31.

The technical staff of the team, headed by Frenchman Jean Jodar, have selected 20 players to continue with the team and excluded eight from those who took part in the friendship tournament in Oman last month.

The team, in Oman, played three matches against Oman, Thailand and Brazil. They beat Thailand 5-2, but lost to Oman 1-2 and 0-4 to Brazil.

The team will leave for Doha on October 13 where they will compete in group C along with Vietnam, Syria and China.

The UAE's football fans are looking forward to a successful participation of the youth team after disappointing performances by the juniors in the Asian Championship, which they hosted, and the Olympic team in Asian Games in Busan.

In addition the same team will take part in the FIFA under-20 World Cup to be hosted by the UAE in March and April next year.