The UAE national team in the Asian Nations 2023…the dream of winning the first title | sports

The UAE national football team aspires to climb the podium in the Asian Nations Championship for the first time in its career when it participates in the finals of the 2023 edition scheduled in Qatar for the 11th time in its history.

Qatar’s stadiums will host the championship competitions, which will be held from January 12 to February 10 of next year.

The UAE national team will play in Group C of the 2023 Asian Nations, alongside Hong Kong, Palestine and Iran.

The team ranked 64th in the FIFA rankings for November 2023, while the best position occupied by “White” was 42nd in November 1998.

Establishment

The UAE Football Association was established in 1971, and joined the International and Asian Federation in 1974.

He played his first international match against the Qatar national team on March 17, 1972 in Riyadh, and won with a single goal.

He participated once in the World Cup finals in Italy in 1990, and lost his three matches in the group stage to Colombia (0-2), West Germany (1-5) and Yugoslavia (1-4).

UAE national team goals in the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
When will those days return so we can live the joy that that generation experienced 🇦🇪#World_Cup_Russia_2018 #WorldCup2108 pic.twitter.com/RJ1gRIoZSK

— HA. (@Diviro3) June 19, 2018

Asia Cup

Since 1980, the “Emirati White” will appear for the 11th time in the Asian Nations Cup finals.

• 1980 edition in Kuwait: It was eliminated from the first round by tying with Kuwait and suffering 3 defeats from Qatar, Malaysia and South Korea.
• 1984 edition in Singapore: I was eliminated from the first round after defeat by Iran and China and victory over Singapore and India.
• 1988 edition in Qatar: He left the first round after defeats by South Korea and Iran and victory over Japan.
• 1992 version in Japan: It reached the semi-finals and was defeated by Saudi Arabia.
• 1996 edition in the UAE: He lost the final against Saudi Arabia on penalties 4-2.

With the memories of the generation of Taliani, Zuhair, Kojak, Hassan Saeed and the rest…we say, Oh Lord.
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In the clip, the UAE national team’s goals in the 1996 Asian Cup ❤️🇦🇪
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⁧#In front of _ white⁩ ⁧#AsiaCup2019⁩ pic.twitter.com/HLwg1XEexz

– Al-Hajri fan (@MaajabM) January 5, 2019

• 2004 version in China: He left in the first round after losing to Kuwait and South Korea and drawing with Jordan.
• 2007 edition in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia: It was eliminated from the group stage as a result of its loss against Vietnam and Japan and its victory over Qatar.
• 2011 edition in Qatar: He was eliminated from the first round after drawing with North Korea and losing to Iraq and Iran.
• 2015 edition in Australia: It reached the semi-finals and was defeated by the organizing country with two unanswered goals.
• 2019 edition in the UAE: His journey ended in the semi-finals, with his loss at the hands of the Qatar national team, 4-0.

Notable former players:

• Fahd Khamis.
• Adnan Al-Taliani.
• Zuhair Bakhit.
• Ismail Matar.
• Omar Abdel Rahman (Amori).

Most prominent current players

• Ali Mabkhout, the team’s all-time top scorer (84 goals).
• Caio Canedo.
• Sebastian Tigali.
• Majed Hassan.

84 ⚽️

Our national team’s historic top scorer, Ali Mabkhout 👑
#UAE_National Team #Our _ dear _ team pic.twitter.com/FenuhdRYjf

– UAE NT UAE National Team (@UAEFNT) November 21, 2023

Team coach

Since his appointment as a successor to Argentine Rodolfo Arruparena, Portuguese Paulo Bento has led the UAE national team in 3 friendly matches and two in the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, and he won all of them, as the team scored 13 goals and conceded only two goals.

The Emirates is not the first team coached by the 54-year-old Pinto, as he previously supervised the Portugal and South Korea teams during the 2014 and 2022 editions of the World Cup.

At the club level, he coached Olympiacos of Greece, Chongqing Liangjiang of China, Sporting Lisbon of Portugal, and Cruzeiro of Brazil.

During his coaching career, the former Portuguese international player lifted several titles, such as the Portuguese Cup (2006-2007 and 2007-2008), the Super Cup (2007 and 2008), the Greek League (2016-2017) and the East Asian Cup with South Korea (2019).

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Record titles and achievements of a national coach #The UAE Paolo #pinto . pic.twitter.com/xnY1CXiNK5

— jomhooor (@jomhooor2) July 9, 2023

UAE national team matches in Group C of the Asian Nations 2023

January 14: UAE x Hong Kong (Khalifa International Stadium).

January 18: Palestine x UAE (Al Janoub Stadium).

January 23: Iran x UAE (Education City Stadium).