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The UAE suffered defeat in their final warm-up match before next month’s 2018 World Cup qualifiers, losing 2-0 to North Korea in Shanghai.
Mahdi Ali's men, who had Ali Mabkhout sent off, will not read too much into the result, though, since they were missing nine of their squad, with Al Ain and Al Nasr contesting the Asian Champions League quarter-finals this week. Those players, who include Omar Abdulrahman, meet up with the team in China on Friday.
The UAE begin the third and final qualification stage for Russia 2018 on September 1 against Japan in Saitama. They then face Australia, in Abu Dhabi, five days later.
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