UAE coach Mahdi Ali visits players during their European tour

Ali is reportedly following up the physical and tactical form of the UAE players on tour. — Reuters file

Ali is reportedly following up the physical and tactical form of the players to ensure their readiness for the upcoming commitments.

Ali started with Al Ahli in Austria and watched their warm up against Italian outfit which they drew 1-1. Later, he attended Bani Yas’s clash against Qatar’s Al Sadd on Sunday. Al Sadd won 2-1. The next stopover for the former engineer would be Al Ain, Al Jazira and the rest of the clubs.

Meanwhile, the senior national team are scheduled to gather by the end of this month to prepare for the inaugural edition of the OSN Cup hosted by Saudi Arabia in collaboration with the Pioneers TV pay channels to be held at the Prince Faisal bin Fahad Stadium from September 5 to 10. Teams representing New Zealand, Trinidad & Tobago besides UAE and hosts Saudi Arabia are in the fray.

The UAE senior national team is preparing for Group-E Hong Kong encounter on October 15 in the third round of the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 Qualifiers. The boys in white are leading the way with 6 points from two starts.

UAE hold Iraq in WAFF U-16

Meanwhile, the U-15 national team drew their opening clash 2-2 against Iraq in the ongoing 4th West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) U-16 Championship. The Championship is played in Palestine between 15-21 August, as Palestine, Jordan, UAE and Iraq are competing for the title. The tournament is a good chance for the participating teams to prepare for AFC U-16 Championship qualifiers.

Majid Lafi put the UAE lads ahead in the 15th minutes of the first half before Amir Sabah levelled the result in the 27th minute. This was also the result at half-time.

Meanwhile, the Iraqis scored in the 62nd minute to make it 2-1, but the Whites rallied and Faisal Al Mutroushi equalised the result in the 80th minute.