Al Maktoum Stadium to host UAE's first home fixture

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Al Maktoum Stadium to host UAEs first home fixture
The UAE squad during a training camp in Austria. - Twitter

Dubai - The Whites will play Indonesia on October 10 as part of the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 Fifa World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup

By James Jose

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Published: Wed 7 Aug 2019, 9:32 PM

Last updated: Wed 7 Aug 2019, 11:38 PM

The UAE football team's first home fixture for the second round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 Fifa World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be played at the Al Maktoum Stadium, the UAE Football Association confirmed.
The Whites embark on their campaign to make the cut for the 2022 Fifa World Cup and AFC Asian Cup 2023 to be held in China in September.
Bert van Marwijk's men have been drawn in Group G along with Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. The UAE, hoping to make only their second appearance at a World Cup after Italy in 1990, have received a bye into the second round of the Asia Zone World Cup qualification.
The Whites begin their campaign with an away fixture against Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on September 10. The next game will be at home to Indonesia with Al Nasr's refurbished Al Maktoum Stadium playing hosts, on October 10. The Stadium had hosted matches during the AFC Asian Cup held earlier this year.
It will be the first time in a long while that the Al Maktoum Stadium has been chosen as a venue for the National team. The UAE's previous home fixtures used to be held at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium and the Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi with Al Ain's iconic Hazza bin Zayed Stadium also playing hosts.
Following the game on October 10, the UAE then have a quick turnaround where they will travel to Bangkok to face Thailand on October 15. The UAE then play Vietnam away on November 14.
They then play the return leg against Malaysia at home on March 26 before making the trip to Jakarta to take on Indonesia on March 31.
The UAE's final two fixtures of the second round are at home to Thailand and Vietnam on June 4 and June 9 respectively.
The second round of qualifiers also serves as the second round of qualification for the AFC Asian Cup. 
james@khaleejtimes.com


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