Dubai: The UAE are without six key players heading into Tuesday’s friendly against Norway in Stavanger’s Viking Stadium from 8.30pm UAE time.
Al Wahda striker Esmail Mattar is out with a knee injury while Khaled Eissa, Mohammad Ahmad, Omar Abdul Rahman, Esmail Ahmad and Muhannad Al Enazi are all on club duty with Al Ain who play Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad in Tuesday’s Asian Champions League quarter-final second leg in Jeddah.
The UAE’s only solace is the return of Bani Yas midfielder Amer Abdul Rahman, who has been out for ten months with a knee injury. He marked his return to full fitness with an impressive display in the UAE’s 2-1 friendly defeat to Italian Serie A side Udinese in Linz, Austria, on Friday.
The Whites, who are ranked 12 positions below the Norwegians in the Fifa world rankings at World No.65, will be using the fixture to continue their preparations ahead of the Gulf Cup in Saudi Arabia from November 13 to 26 and the Asian Cup in Australia from January 9-31.
Mahdi Ali’s side had earlier lost 4-3 to Armenia, before beating Georgia 2-1 in previous friendlies. They are now set to face Lithuania on September 3, Paraguay on September 7, Australia on October 10 and Uzbekistan on October 14.
Norway’s hottest prospect Martin Odegaard, is expected to make his debut in the game, becoming the youngest player to represent his country aged 15 years and 253 days.
Top European clubs are said to be following the Stromsgodset attacking midfielder’s progress after he scored three goals in only his first four senior starts.
