Dubai: The UAE took their first step towards Rio 2016 after securing a place in the Asian Under-23s Championship by topping their qualification pool with a 1-0 win over Yemen at Kalba Stadium in Fujairah on Tuesday.
Saif Rashid’s tap-in from Ahmad Barman’s cross just after the interval ensured the Whites followed on from a 4-0 win over Sri Lanka and a 3-0 win over Tajikistan last week to put coach Abdullah Misfir’s men through to the 16-team tournament.
The tournament will be held in Qatar from January 12 to 30, 2016. The teams will be split into four groups of four and the top two from each group will qualify for the knockout stages. The overall winners, runners-up and third-placed sides will qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The UAE qualified to the Olympics for the first time in their history when they played in London 2012, an achievement that saw Mahdi Ali become the first Emirati to be offered the role of UAE senior team coach full-time.
Under Ali, the Whites went on to win the 2013 Gulf Cup and finish third at the 2015 Asian Cup. All eyes will now be on this latest batch of hopefuls to see if they can replicate the class of 2012 and bolster Ali’s senior ranks ahead of 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifying.
