The UAE Federation adopts the program for the preparations of the first team .. and appoints Lucasin as technical director of the federation

The National Teams and Technical Affairs Committee of the Emirates Football Association approved the program of preparations for the first team in preparation for participating in the upcoming regional and continental championships, during the committee’s meeting, chaired by Humaid Ahmed Al Tayer, member of the Federation’s Board of Directors.

The most prominent of these tournaments are the Arabian Gulf Cup, scheduled for next January, and the West Asian Federation Championship for men in March 2023, in addition to the 2023 Asian Cup finals, the venue and date of which will be announced on October 17.

The committee confirmed that all the participations, camps and matches that the team will play, come with the aim of optimal preparation for the continental championship, which is the main goal of the federation, in addition to the Gulf and West Asian Championships.

The Emirati “White” preparation program will start with the establishment of an external camp in Austria from September 17 to 27, in which the team will play two friendly matches, the first with Paraguay on the 23rd, and the second with Venezuela on the 27th of the same month.

The second stop will be an indoor camp in the capital, Abu Dhabi, from November 13 to 19, during which the team will play two friendly matches against Argentina and Kazakhstan on 16 and 19 of the same month.

The team will enter a preparatory camp again from December 26, 2022, to January 6, 2023, in preparation for the “Gulf 25” tournament scheduled from January 6 to 19, 2023.

Then there will be another camp in preparation for the West Asian Championship from March 20 to April 2, 2023, while there will be a gathering during the summer period from May 28 to June 15 next, in preparation for the Asian Cup.

The committee, in coordination with the technical staff of the national team led by Rodolfo Arruabarina, developed several scenarios in the event of any developments related to the calendar and tournament dates.

Within the framework of the future plan for the development of the national teams and technical affairs sector, and in line with the vision and strategy of the Football Association 2038, the Dutch Marcel Lucassen, technical director of the Football Association, and his compatriot Taku van de Velde, were appointed as director of the technical and national affairs department.

Lucasin has great experience through his work in the Dutch and German Football Associations, Arsenal clubs in England, Al-Nassr of the UAE, and Hoffenheim in Germany, in addition to his work as an expert in the European Union.

The meeting also reviewed the latest preparations for the youth team’s participation in the qualifiers for the Asian Youth Cup finals scheduled in Kyrgyzstan this September.

As well as the program for preparing the junior team for the qualifiers for the Asian Cup scheduled in Jakarta next October, and the program of the Olympic team was reviewed and approved during this September, and it witnessed an internal gathering, and two friendly matches against one of the teams