Dubai: An impressive 40 practice matches is what coach Rashid Amer is aiming for before hosts UAE begin their campaign in the Fifa U-17 World Cup in October-November this year.
With less than four months to go for the prestigious competition that first witnessed the likes of Luis Figo, Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Petit and Neymar, the UAE coach is targeting a classic climax for his young team by the time the competition kicks off on October 17.
“Practice makes us perfect and it is this thought that is taking us forward towards our goal,” Amer told Gulf News at the launch of exclusive early bird venue package ticket sales, late on Wednesday.
The Fifa U-17 World Cup will be held across six venues — Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Al Ain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah — from October 17 to November 8.
A total of 24 teams from all over the world will be in the UAE for the competition that will witness 52 matches over the three weeks of the tournament.
Qualifying as hosts, the UAE’s preparations for the tournament started off more than a year ago as the team was given a direct entry in the UAE Under-19 Football League for greater exposure. “The team was scared at first, participating against bigger players. But, after the first round of competition, we even started winning matches,” Amer said.
The U-19 League consisted of nine teams, thus giving the UAE junior side 16 matches along with another six international friendlies during the course of the year. In the six friendlies, the UAE beat Iran (5-1), Australia (2-1) and Iraq (2-1) while they drew against Japan (3-3) and China (1-1) and lost once to Iraq (2-3).
“Frankly, this team has matured over the past 14 months that they have been together. But we are ambitious and we want to advance to the second round of the World Cup, and that remains our goal,” the coach said.
The final phase of preparations for the team will consist of three training camps and commence on July 1 with a 24-day trip to Turkey followed by a three-week camp in either Switzerland or Austria and then finally to either China or Malaysia. “During the course of these three camps, we have managed to assemble another 18 matches, taking the total to 40 friendlies. After this I think our team will be ready to take on the best in the world,” Amer said.
