UAE manager Alberto Zaccheroni may provide veteran striker Ismail Matar an opportunity to return to the national team in the international friendly against Honduras in Barcelona on Thursday.
Al Wahda forward Matar, 35, is part of the 28-player squad for Zaccheroni’s training camp in Spain from October 6-16, the third of the five camps scheduled overseas as the Italian continues to prepare the UAE for the 2019 Asian Cup on home soil.
Matar hasn’t played for the national team in over a year, but is included in a bid to strengthen Zaccheroni’s forward options to support the two lead strikers, Ali Mabkhout and Ahmed Khalil.
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Playmaker Omar Abdulrahman, the UAE’s finest player, is part of Zaccheroni’s setup having left UAE football for Saudi Arabian giants Al Hilal in August.
The match at the Olympic Stadium will be the fourth friendly for the UAE as they continue to prepare for the 24-team continental championship from January 5 to February 1.
The squad go into the game against Honduras after a 3-0 win over Laos last month. Prior to that, the UAE were held to a goalless draw by Andorra in August and lost 3-0 to Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 in Spain on September 6.
With less than three months left before the Asian Cup, Zaccheroni’s side will be aiming to impress on home soil in a Group A that includes Bahrain, India and Thailand.
The friendly against Honduras will be followed by a meeting with Venezuela five days later. The UAE are also set to play Paraguay, Jamaica and Costa Rica, the dates of which are expected to be announced next week.
The UAE enter the 2019 Asian Cup having finished third at the most recent edition of the tournament in Australia. The national team's best showing was a runner-up finish in 1996 - the last time the Emirates hosted the competition.
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The specs
Common to all models unless otherwise stated
Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi
0-100kph: 5.3 seconds (Elantra); 5.5 seconds (Kona); 6.1 seconds (Veloster)
Power: 276hp
Torque: 392Nm
Transmission: 6-Speed Manual/ 8-Speed Dual Clutch FWD
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Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours.
The package
Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.
Abdul Jabar Qahraman was meeting supporters in his campaign office in the southern Afghan province of Helmand when a bomb hidden under a sofa exploded on Wednesday.
The blast in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah killed the Afghan election candidate and at least another three people, Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak told reporters. Another three were wounded, while three suspects were detained, he said.
The Taliban – which controls much of Helmand and has vowed to disrupt the October 20 parliamentary elections – claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mr Qahraman was at least the 10th candidate killed so far during the campaign season, and the second from Lashkar Gah this month. Another candidate, Saleh Mohammad Asikzai, was among eight people killed in a suicide attack last week. Most of the slain candidates were murdered in targeted assassinations, including Avtar Singh Khalsa, the first Afghan Sikh to run for the lower house of the parliament.
The same week the Taliban warned candidates to withdraw from the elections. On Wednesday the group issued fresh warnings, calling on educational workers to stop schools from being used as polling centres.
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
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