UAE adopt cutting-edge technology to good use

Dubai - National football squad is currently training in the Austrian city of Salzburg

The UAE National football squad's training camp currently underway in the Austrian city of Salzburg looked like a scene straight out of a sci-fi thriller with masks, vests and drones.

But before one think any further, coach Alberto Zaccheroni's coaching staff were using the latest cutting-edge technology used by National teams and clubs around the world to track and monitor their players' fitness and keep them fighting fit for the battles that lay in store ahead.

The black vests, which monitors heart rate, body temperature and respiratory rate, have become common in training grounds not just in Europe but across the world. And the UAE squad are no different with the support staff putting them to good use during the camp.

The black vests transmits signals to analyse players' movements and measure and control the load and intensity of exercises based on each player. The technology is quite effective in avoiding injuries that are caused by exhaustion.

And while they are at it, the support staff have thrown the kitchen sink, so to speak, or gone the whole hog.

Apart from monitoring the physical and physiological condition of the players during their daily exercises using these black vests, the players have also been subject to special masks that increase their oxygen content.

The staff are also putting drone technology to good use during the camp with them monitoring the movements of the players during their daily exercises and training sessions, to gather as much vital intel as possible on their strengths and weaknesses so that they can devise plans accordingly.

The current programme, devised by Zaccheroni, is aimed at focussing on the physical aspects so as to raise the fitness level of the players, ahead of the new season.

The squad are set to play the first of five friendlies during the camp that runs until August 19, against one of the Austrian teams on Wednesday. "The players have shown a lot of commitment to the programme devised by Zaccheroni and his staff," team supervisor Abdullah Saleh said.

"There has been exercises in the mornings and evenings as well as theoretical lectures and video analysis. The first camp is one of the most important steps to the team's preparations for the AFC Asian Cup. It is the first in a series of camps that have been developed by the coach and his staff in co-ordination with the National Teams Committee of the UAE Football Federation. We urge everyone to stand behind the team and support them during this period in order to reach our goal," he added.

james@khaleejtimes.com