20 February 2006
Dubai: The UAE national team continued their training at the Al Maktoum stadium yesterday. The team is preparing for the match against Oman in the Asian Group C qualifiers, to be held on Wednesday.
The training lasted 90 minutes under French coach Dominique Bathenay, who was satisfied with the players form before the big clash. Badr Saleh, the UAE assistant coach, said the UAE have to win the three points.
"Since the match will be held at home and among our supporters, we have to win by capitalising on these factors. The supporters will play a major role, as witnessed in the recently concluded African Nations Cup in Egypt," said the UAE assistant coach.
Badr Saleh added: "Beating Oman on Wednesday and travelling to Pakistan with three points will give us the advantage to surpass Pakistan on March 1 in Multan. And it will be excellent to have full points from the first two matches."
Meanwhile, the Omani national team held their first training session last night at the Dubai Police stadium.
Only goalkeeper Ali Al Habssy, who is a professional with English Premier League Club Bolton, was not there. He is expected to arrive today.
"The match is not easy for both teams. I know the UAE national team well. We came to win the three points as the first step in qualification to the Asian Cup Finals," said the Omani coach Sreshko, who trained the UAE national team and Al Ahli and Al Ittihad club in last years.
By Sayed Ali
Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.
