Srecko Katanec has his final chance to prepare for next month's key Asian Cup qualifier with Malaysia as the UAE travel to Kuwait for a friendly on a night when the Spanish giants Barcelona play the Mexican club Atlante in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup at the Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi.
Barcelona are arguably the most popular club in the Emirates and the nation's attention will be on the European champions' game rather than their national team's friendly.
The UAE need only a home draw against Malaysia on January 6 to qualify for the 2011 Asian Cup finals in Doha from the three-team Group Three along with Uzbekistan, who booked their berth after 3-1 result over the Malaysians last month.
And it seems a mere formality to a UAE side that thrashed Malaysia 5-0 away under the Frenchman Dominique Bathenay last January.
Katanec, however, was not prepared to take anything for granted, saying: "There are no guarantees until we have actually qualified from the group. It may seem an easy task but we still have to play for that point. The first task is to qualify and then we need to keep building for the future."
Although Katanec took charge in June, he did not have a game until early October, a 1-1 draw against Palestine followed by a 3-1 win over Jordan.
Last month, they beat the Premier League club Manchester City 1-0 in a friendly before a four-team friendly tournament, where they overcame the Czech Republic in a penalty shoot-out before losing to the Asian Champions Iraq 1-0.
Ahead of his sixth match in charge, the first away from home, Katanec was upbeat of his team's progress.
"We have tried out several combinations and have made some progress," said the Slovenian. "It is a combination of both, experience and youth. Obviously we can't build a team overnight. But I am happy with the progress and the Kuwait game serves us as a good test."
Ismail Matar returns from injury along with his Al Wahda teammate, the right winger Fahad Masoud.
Matar suffered a knee injury in the first half hour against the Palestinians in Katanec's first game in charge, and is back in the national team after coming on as a substitute for his club in the last two league games.
Matar and another of his club teammates, Mohammed al Shehhi, are expected to start up front with the young Al Ahli striker Ahmed Khalil having to stay in the UAE for club duties in the Club World Cup. Khalil's UAE Under 20 teammate Theyab Awana and the experienced Saeed al Kas are the other forwards in Katanec's squad.
apassela@thenational.ae
Kuwait v UAE, KO 6.30pm
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
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Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
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Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,200m, Winner: ES Rubban, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ibrahim Aseel (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: Al Mobher, Sczcepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m, Winner: Jabalini, Tadhg O’Shea, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m, Winner: AF Abahe, Tadgh O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: AF Makerah, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Law Of Peace, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
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Director: Simon Curtis
Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter and Phyllis Logan
Rating: 4/5
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