The UAE are aware of the “big challenge” that awaits in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, but are not intimidated by their final-round group, according to assistant coach Salem Abdulrahman.
The national team were on Thursday drawn in Group A for the third stage of qualification, where they will take on Iran, South Korea, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon for a place at next year’s finals in Qatar.
Seeded in Pot 3 for the draw in Kuala Lumpur, the UAE need to finish in the top two to automatically progress to what would be only a second World Cup appearance in the country’s history.
However, should Bert van Marwijk’s side finish third, they enter a play-off against the third-placed team in Group B. The winner of that then advances to an intercontinental play-off for the final spot at the tournament.
The UAE, who last month advanced from the second round as winners of Group G, are scheduled to begin the campaign in early September, when they host Lebanon on September 2 before facing Syria away five days later. They conclude the third round in March with a double-header away to Iraq and at home to South Korea.
“It’s clear that it will be a big challenge to finish first or second in this very strong group,” Abdulrahman said. “We respect our opponents, but at the same time we are not afraid. It will be difficult, but we have a chance to qualify.
“I think we are ready. In June, we played four games and we won four; we scored 15 goals and were playing attacking football. We have our own style now and that’s giving us more confidence. We’re ready for that.”
Without doubt, in-form striker Ali Mabkhout will be central to the UAE’s chances of qualification. The country’s all-time leading scorer finished the second round top of the goal charts, with 11.
On Mabkhout, Abdulrahman said: “First of all, we are very happy with Ali Mabkhout. Ali is now 30 years old and he’s playing his best football ever. He’s breaking record after record and he played an important part in qualifying for the final round.
“But Ali is not only a great player, he is a leader who wants to win for the team and help the other players. For him, it doesn’t matter who scores, he helps a lot the team, he has a lot of assists. Ali’s very important for the team."
At 31st and 39th respectively, Iran and South Korea are currently ranked the second- and third-best teams in Asia, behind only Japan (28th). The UAE sit eighth in the continental standings, at 73rd.
For the South Koreans, they are attempting to reach an Asian football record-extending 10th consecutive World Cup.
Asked on Thursday about delivering upon the expectation to continue that, manager Paulo Bento said: “The pressure for the coaches will be every time present in all the moments, so this is one more moment to compete, to enjoy, respecting all the teams in our group.
"And, of course, we should think it will be a difficult group, a balanced group. But we will try to do our best and achieve our big goal: qualify to the World Cup in 2022.”
Iraq assistant coach Rahim Hameed, member of their last squad to reach a World Cup, in 1986, said: “With these six teams we are in the three strongest. I think we have a good chance in the group. I’m happy with this group because we know everything about these teams.”
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EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
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Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
Company info
Company name: Entrupy
Co-founders: Vidyuth Srinivasan, co-founder/chief executive, Ashlesh Sharma, co-founder/chief technology officer, Lakshmi Subramanian, co-founder/chief scientist
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Sector/About: Entrupy is a hardware-enabled SaaS company whose mission is to protect businesses, borders and consumers from transactions involving counterfeit goods.
Initial investment/Investors: Entrupy secured a $2.6m Series A funding round in 2017. The round was led by Tokyo-based Digital Garage and Daiwa Securities Group's jointly established venture arm, DG Lab Fund I Investment Limited Partnership, along with Zach Coelius.
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biogs
Name: Zinah Madi
Occupation: Co-founder of Dots and links
Nationality: Syrian
Family: Married, Mother of Tala, 18, Sharif, 14, Kareem, 2
Favourite Quote: “There is only one way to succeed in anything, and that is to give it everything.”
Name: Razan Nabulsi
Occupation: Co-founder of Dots and Links
Nationality: Jordanian
Family: Married, Mother of Yahya, 3.5
Favourite Quote: A Chinese proverb that says: “Be not afraid of moving slowly, be afraid only of standing still.”
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
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Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
ATP WORLD No 1
2004 Roger Federer
2005 Roger Federer
2006 Roger Federer
2007 Roger Federer
2008 Rafael Nadal
2009 Roger Federer
2010 Rafael Nadal
2011 Novak Djokovic
2012 Novak Djokovic
2013 Rafael Nadal
2014 Novak Djokovic
2015 Novak Djokovic
2016 Andy Murray
2017 Rafael Nadal
2018 Novak Djokovic
2019 Rafael Nadal
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When: Monday, October 22, 2pm start
Where: Abu Dhabi Cricket, Oval 1
Tickets: Admission is free
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Company Profile
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Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
Launch year: 2016
Number of employees: 130
Sector: online laundry service
Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
