(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)As the squad members made their way one by one to the waiting team bus the body language said it all. This was a walk of a confident and champion UAE squad hailed as the 'golden generation.'
Just minutes earlier they had wrecked and dismantled Malaysia by a whopping 10 goals to nil in the 2018 World Cup qualifier last Thursday night. In the aftermath the Malaysian coach Dollah Salleh resigned while the Malaysian sports minister threatened to suspend the Football Association of Malaysia. Malaysia may have represented easy pickings but the Whites' true tests on their road to Russia lie just around the corner. The victory put the UAE on top of Group A but they face a tricky fixture next up. Coach Mahdi Ali's men face-off against Palestine at the West Bank on Tuesday night in what is the latter's first World Cup qualifier on home soil. And Mahdi Ali the mentor and guiding force behind this talented bunch admitted that Palestine represent a different challenge. The Malaysian win was quickly put behind and they got down to work even more quickly. The Whites jetted off to Jordan where they spent three days prepping for Palestine. "Things will be different because the match conditions are different. The Palestinians are doing very well and hopefully the result of our first official clash against Palestine will be positive" Mahdi Ali said. Indeed Palestine have been impressive over the past couple of years.They had qualified for the AFC Asian Cup finals in Australia for the first time in their history after winning the last edition of the AFC Challenge Cup. And in Asia Zone qualifying they have one a game and lost one. Palestine narrowly lost 3-2 to heavyweights Saudi Arabia in their opening fixture after which they walloped Malaysia 6-0. The UAE won't have it easy at the Faisal Al Huseni Stadium as Palestine coach Abdulnasser Barakat promised a stiff fight. "We don't feel afraid of the UAE after their big win against Malaysia as the match gave us a good idea about how to face them" Barakat said. "Their power is in their offence and they have many key players such as Omar Abdulrahman Ali Mabkhout and Ahmed Khalil. As we are playing at home and in front of our own fans we will try to force our own style and try to prevent them from scoring" added the 43-year-old. The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals to be held in the UAE and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 Fifa World Cup. The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup.
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