Srecko Katanec, the UAE coach, finally has all his players back together and the luxury of selecting without restriction as he prepares for next month's Asian Cup.
He has picked a 25-man squad for a week-long training camp in Oman starting this weekend and the team will play friendlies against Syria and Australia before they head for the Asia tournament in Qatar, which runs from January 7 to 27.
Katanec was forced to take a depleted side to the Gulf Cup in Yemen last month when the football chiefs in the country decided to send their best Under 23 players to compete in the Asian Games in China and also leave out players from Al Wahda to allow the Pro League champions time to prepare for the Club World Cup.
Six Wahda players are in the squad, while there are five from Al Jazira, the Pro League leaders and four from second-placed Baniyas.
The only notable absentee is Ahmed Ali, the Baniyas midfielder, who has been left out because he has not yet fully recovered from injury.
He scored the winning goal against South Korea to steer the UAE to the Asian Games final.
The squad will assemble in Abu Dhabi on Friday and travel to Oman that night.
After the training camp they will play Syria on January 2 and Australia three days later, both at the Khalifa bin Zayed stadium in Al Ain. They leave for Qatar on January 7. The UAE face North Korea in their opening Group E match on January 11 followed by Iraq and Iran on January 15 and January 19 respectively, with the top two from the group progressing to the knockout stages.
Syria and Australia also head for Qatar after the friendlies with the UAE.
Syria are in Group B with Japan, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, while Australia are pitted with Bahrain, India and South Korea in Group C.
