KUWAIT CITY Oct 11: Kuwait are set to participate in their inaugural friendly match during their training camp in Dubai, as they square off against the United Arab Emirates at 7:00 PM.

Kuwait has been in the UAE camp since the previous Sunday and is also scheduled to engage in another match on October 17th, this time against Syria.

These encounters form a pivotal part of the preparation program for the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup. Kuwait is drawn alongside Qatar, India, and the winners of the Mongolia and Afghanistan matches. Kuwait opened their qualifying campaign against  India on November 16^th in Kuwait.

The current phase marks the concluding leg of an extensive preparation program that commenced earlier this year.

The Portuguese coach Roy, has compiled a roster of 24 players for the national squad, including Abdul Rahman Kamil, Dhari Al-Otaibi, Abdul Rahman Al-Majdali, Fahd Al-Hajri, Mishari Ghannam, Mohsen Falah, Hassan Hamdan, Abdullah Ammar, Khaled Ibrahim, Mahdi Dashti, Ahmed Al-Dhafiri, Ahmed Al-Zenki, Reda Hani, Faisal Zayed, Sultan Al-Anazi, Badr Tariq, Eid Al-Rashidi, Mubarak Al-Fanini, Hamad Harbi, Abdullah Al-Fahd, Athbi Shehab, Shabib Al-Khalidi, Muhammad Dahham, and Salman Al-Awadi.

The roster has seen the absence of Al-Arabi goalkeeper Suleiman Abdel Ghafour due to injury. Coach Pinto has reintroduced Al-Qadisiyah player Mubarak Al-Fanini after his absence from the team's previous gathering in September due to injury. Moreover, the list sees the inclusion of the promising Olympic team player, Mohsen Falah, who has displayed remarkable performances recently.

On the other hand, UAE’s, Paulo Bento, unveiled a roster comprising 29 players for their camp that commenced on the previous Monday. The list includes Khaled Issa, Khaled Tawhid, Ali Khasif, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Abdullah Al-Attas, Khaled Al-Hashimi, Khalifa Al-Hammadi, Mohammed Al-Attas, Omar Hussein Heikal, Khaled Al-Dhanhani, Ahmed Jameel, Zayed Sultan, Abdul Rahman Saleh, Abdullah Idris, Ali Salmeen, Yahya Nader, Ahmed Mahmoud, Hazem Mohammed, Majed Rashid, Abdullah Ramadan, Tahnoon Al-Zaabi, Yahya Al-Ghassani, Hareb Abdullah, Fabio Lima, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sultan Adel, Issa Khalfan, and Caio Canedo.

The UAE is scheduled to participate in another friendly match against Lebanon on October 17th.

In the draw, the UAE was placed with Bahrain and the winners of the matches between Yemen and Sri Lanka, as well as Nepal and Laos.

Hassan Musa

Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff