The UAE's 2010 World Cup hopefuls return home from their European camp tomorrow after ending their European tour on a high by beating a French professional select team 2-0 at Le Touquet in France on Friday. Ismail Matar and Ismail al Hammadi scored second-half goals to round off the teams summer camp in Switzerland and France. They went down 1-0 to Algeria two days earlier in France and beat Swiss Super League side Sion FC 1-0 in the Swiss canton of Valais.
Bruno Metsus men play Bahrain in a final warm-up at the Mohammed bin Zayed stadium on Friday before their opening qualifying fixture with North Korea on Sept 6. They then face Saudi Arabia four days later, with both games in Abu Dhabi, in Group 2 that also includes South Korea and Iran. The Japanese FA, meanwhile, confirmed a friendly with the UAE in Nigata ahead of their third match against South Korea on Oct 15. The UAE will play the friendly on Oct 9 before travelling to Seoul on Oct 13.
Japan are in Group 1 alongside Australia, Bahrain, Qatar and Uzbekistan. They open their campaign with trip to Bahrain. The top two teams from the two groups in the Asia Zone earn automatic qualification and the two third-placed teams go into a play-off. @Email:apassela@thenational.ae
