UAE coach has plans in place for India encounter

The UAE coach is perfectly at ease with the time on hand for him to implement his plans prior to their double-leg encounter against India for the Asian qualifiers of the 2014 Fifa World Cup. "We have to work with the time we have with us. Our players are tired following their engagements in the UAE league and then some of them were part of the Olympic qualifiers. But we need to go ahead and see how best we can utilise the time we have on hand," UAE's Slovenian coach Srecko Katanec told Gulf News. Katanec is currently leading the UAE squad for a fortnight long preparatory camp in Austria ahead of their matches against India on July 23 (in Al Ain) and July 28 (in New Delhi). The eight members from last week's Olympic qualifiers against North Korea have been told to join up with the squad on July 1. Adel Al Hussaini, Mohammad Ahmad, Hamdan Al Kamali, Theyab Awana, Omar Abdul Rahman, Amir Abdul Rahman, Mohammad Fawzi and Ahmad Khalil were part of Mehdi Ali's squad that settled for a 1-1 draw against North Korea and made it to the third round of qualifying for the London 2012 Olympic Games last week. "There are various factors one has to consider while preparing for an assignment of this nature. But we have depth in our squad and they will be up for the challenge against India," he promised. Friendly matches During the course of their stay in Austria, the UAE squad will play three friendly matches with the first one against Austrian side SV Grodig on July 2, followed by the second one aganst Romanian giants FC Dinamo Bucuresti and the third one against Russia premier league team FC Dynamo Moscow. The squad is expected to make the trip back home on July 14, after which they will host Lebanon at the Khalifa Stadium in Al Ain prior to their home match against India at the same venue on July 23. "The friendlies will be important for this team as I will be able to get the side to get the tactical aspect of playing against India," Katanec said.