Abu Dhabi: The UAE face Australia at 5.30pm today at Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium in a crucial match in the Asian qualifiers for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The UAE have to win their two remaining matches today and then against main rivals Uzbekistan to secure a place in the finals of the Olympic Games for the first time, realising the dreams of the country's football community.
The team shares leadership of the group with Uzbekistan on eight points each, while Australia are third on three points and Iraq bottom with just a single point.
The winners automatically qualify for London, while the runners-up will face another three-team round-robin with the best of those sides then going to England for a final play-off match against Senegal.
In case the UAE and the Uzbeks finish with an equal number of points, then the head-to-head matches will decide who finishes top.
Their first match in Al Ain ended in a goalless draw which gives the match next month in Tashkent great importance, as the winner will definitely qualify.
Mahdi Ali has led the UAE team's preparations for the last two matches and has recalled star defender and captain Hamdan Al Kamali from Lyon in France, as well as striker Ahmad Khalil and midfielder Omar Abdul Rahman after both recovered from injuries.
Those three players are expected to boost their country's chances as they bid to better the impressive goalless tie they earned in Sydney in the opener of the qualifiers last year.
‘Hoisting the flags'
The only problem that UAE face is the injury to pivotal midfielder Amer Abdul Rahman, who picked up a knock in the friendly match against Chinese club Dalian last week.
The UAE FA has decided that entry to today's match will be free in a bid to encourage locals and expatriates to attend and support the team.
"We want to see our fans in the stadium hoisting the flags of our country to help us win the crucial match." Fawzi said.
An Emirati fan has donated 4,500 UAE flags for the supporters, which will be handed out at the gates of the stadium.
