The players of the UAE senior football national team are set to gather in Dubai on Sunday (TEST)
The players of the UAE senior football national team are set to gather in Dubai on Sunday before they head for Spain on Monday to launch their European tour ahead of the final stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup (TEST)
Qualifiers which will kickoff on September 1, 2016.UAE were drawn in Group-B alongside Japan, KSA, Australia, Iraq and Thailand. The boys in white line up against Japan in Tokyo on September 1st, then they host Australia five days later, before they entertain Thailand and travel to KSA in October respectively. Thereafter, UAE play Iraq in Abu Dhabi on November 15.The second part of the home and away format of the competition resumes in March 2017 where UAE host Japan and head for Down Under to face the Socoroos on March 28. On July 13, UAE face Thailand in Bangkok, host KSA on August 31, 2017 and conclude their outings against Iraq on September 2017 away from home. The top two finishers in Group S and B advance directly to the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals in Russia while the third-placed lock horns and the winners face the Concacaf representatives in the playoff for the fifth spot. The UAE head coach Mahdi Ali has shortlisted 25 players to carry the country’s hopes besides the technical and administrative staff.The players are: Majid Nasser, Abdul Aziz Haikal, Abdul Aziz Sanqoor, Walid Abbas, Khamis Ismail, Habib Fardan, Ismail Al Hammadi and Ahmed Khalil (Al Ahli), Khaled Essa, Ismail Ahmed, Mohammed Ahmed, Muhannad Salem, Mohammed Abdul Rahman, Mohammed Fawzi, Omer Abdul Rahman, Amer Abdul Rahman (Al Ain), Ali KHeseif, Faris Jumaa, Sultan Al Shamsi, Ali Mab khout (Al Jazira), Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Al Akbari, Khalid Ba Wazeer (Al Wahda), Hassan Ebrahim (Al Shabab), Salem Saleh (Al Nasr).The Whites play five tests against different Spanish clubs before they return
