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UAE Football Association Vice President Abdullah Naser Al Junaibi said that it was a good draw but added that with teams evolving, there are no easy teams in modern day football.
The draw for the second round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 Fifa World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup was held at the AFC House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Wednesday and the UAE were drawn in Group G.
The Whites, who made their only appearance at a World Cup in Italy in 1990, were pooled with Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
And their road to the next World Cup and the AFC Asian Cup begins with their opening fixture against Malaysia in September.
"It looks good," Abdullah Naser Al Junaibi, who is also the Chairman of the Pro League Committee (PLC), told the Khaleej Times on Wednesday.
"But nowadays, there are no easy games or no easy teams. All the teams are strong. For example, Thailand are one of the most improved and most developed teams in Asia. What we should focus on is ourselves," he added.
A 24-man UAE squad are currently in the midst of a camp in Salzburg, Austria, the first under new coach, former Saudi Arabia and Australia manager Bert van Marwijk. The camp runs until July 22.
"The camp is going well. It is the first meeting with the new coach so this camp is more of an introduction with the focus being on fitness. The next camp will be more technical and will involve tactics and game plans," Al Junaibi said.
The second camp will take place from August 24 to September 10.
Bert van Marwijk had called up Omar Abdulrahman but the gifted playmaker has been absent from the ongoing camp. And Al Junaibi shed light on his absence. "We are following up with our medical team and his doctor on a regular basis. He will most likely return to training in September," revealed Al Junaibi.
Omar Abdulrahman has been on the sidelines since last October following a crucial ligament injury, which required surgery.
The UAE, who are among the 34 teams to have received a bye into the second round of the Asia Zone World Cup qualification, will begin their campaign with an away game against Malaysia on September 10 with their second fixture to be played at home against Indonesia on October 10.
They then have a quick turnaround where they will travel to Bangkok to face Thailand on October 15. The UAE then play Vietnam 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 to be held in China in 2023. The qualifiers run until June 9, 2020.
Meanwhile, the World Cup qualification runs until March 2022.
The UAE had lost in the semifinal in the AFC Asian Cup held on home soil, earlier this year. The Whites had missed on qualification for the World Cup in Russia after finishing fourth behind Japan, Saudi Arabia and Australia.
james@khaleejtimes.com
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