Zaccheroni has work to do after UAE lose to Trinidad and Tobago

Dubai - The Whites take on Laos in the second international friendly on September 11

It is still early days yet but coach Alberto Zaccheroni has quite a bit of work to do if he hopes to replicate his AFC Asian Cup title triumph, with the UAE on home soil.

The Italian, who masterminded Japan's win in 2011, is at the helm after taking over from Emirati Mahdi Ali last October, and has been given the remit of winning the 17th edition of Asia's biggest football competition on home soil.

The UAE play hosts to the Cup from January 5 to February 1 next year and in the run up to the tournament, the UAE lost to Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 at the Estadio Palamos Costa Brava Stadium in Girona, Spain on Thursday.

It may have been just a football friendly but there were some glaring mistakes, not least a slippery backline as Trinidad and Tobago, ranked 91 to the UAE's 77, more than punched above their weight.

Nathan Lewis provided an assist and scored as Trinidad and Tobago notched their first win against the UAE following a 3-3 stalemate in their only previous meeting in an international friendly in 2013. Ataullah Guerra had given Trindad and Tobago the lead on 37 minutes.

Zaccheroni will also have to address things upfront too with his frontmen Ahmed Khalil and Ali Mabkhout a bit off-colour on the day. Perhaps, the inclusion of a few Olympic team players, who won bronze at the just-concluded Asian Games in Indonesia, for the forthcoming camps in Barcelona from October 6 to 16 and the fourth and fifth camps from November 6 to 20 and December 15 to 31 at home, will help as he will have a bigger pool of players to work with.

The UAE take on Laos in the second international friendly on September 11.

james@khaleejtimes.com