UAE Pro League notebook 27/09/2011

Al Wasl will play their first home match of the season on Friday against Al Wahda, after maintenance work is completed, while Al Shabab Coach Paulo Bonamigo is facing a selection dilemma ahead of tomorrow's Gulf Club Championship semi-final against Kuwait's Al Arabi. Al Wasl

Diego Maradona's team will play on their home ground for the first time this season on Friday when they take on Super Cup winners Al Wahda in an Etisalat Cup match.

Last Thursday, Wasl were forced to play their home game against Emirates at Al Ahli because the maintenance work at the Zabeel club had not been completed.

The stadium, however, is ready now and Ahmed Khalifa, Wasl's media officer, said: "We are ready to receive the fans of Wasl and Wahda, and of course, Maradona. There is a lot of interest in this match, especially since the other team, Wahda, are really good."

Al Jazira

Lucas Neill will miss Al Jazira's Etisalat Cup game against Al Ain a week on Friday because he is joining up with the Australian national team.

The defender, who captains his country, will leave the UAE straight after this Friday's game against Dubai. Neill will, however, return for his side's away trip to Emirates on October 19.

Khalad Issa, the Al Jazira goalkeeper, has been called up to the UAE national squad after his solid start to the campaign.

Baniyas

Saif Khaili, vice-chairman of Baniyas, has revealed his club's determination to go one better in the Pro League this season. The Abu Dhabi side were the dark horses last time, finishing in second place to Al Jazira.

Baniyas have since appointed Brazilian Jorvan Vieira as coach, then former Juventus striker David Trezeguet arrived at the club in pre-season.

"We surprised everyone last year and we are entitled to dream about winning the championship," said Khalil. "We do not want to finish second again, we are only thinking about winning. That is the philosophy of Baniyas. This is why we have a top coach and have made strong additions to the squad."

Meanwhile, Abdulla Misfir, the UAE national team coach, has called up Baniyas midfielder Amer Abdularahman to join a squad training camp in Al Ain from today. The UAE leave for China on October 1 and are scheduled to play the hosts on a friendly on October 6 before flying out to Seoul to face South Korea in a 2014 World Cup third round qualifier on October 11.

Al Shabab

Coach Paulo Bonamigo is facing a selection dilemma ahead of tomorrow's Gulf Club Championship semi-final against Kuwait's Al Arabi as the tournament rules allow for only three foreign players to be on the pitch.

Shabab's foreign quartet of Carlos Villanueva, Julio Cesar, Ciel and Azizbek Hydarov have played an influential role in their two Etisalat Cup wins over Baniyas and Al Nasr, but Bonamigo now faces the difficult choice of leaving one of them out for the match and finding a player good enough to replace him.

Al Wahda

The club expect to sign an Asian expatriate this week from "two or three" candidates, said Khaled Awadh, the assistant chief executive with the club.

Wahda have three Brazilians in their squad, but have not yet taken advantage of the new rule allowing a fourth expat, as long as he carries an Asian passport.

Also, the club do not expect Fernando Baiano, the Brazilian striker, to be fit before the league season begins on October 15, Awadh said. Baiano, 32, has been troubled by groin injuries for six months and made his first appearance since April in a 2-1 defeat to Al Jazira on Friday.

* Compiled by Ahmed Rizvi, Neil Cameron, Amith Passela and Paul Oberjuerge