The UAE expected to be welcoming Mohamed Salah and Egypt on Tuesday.
Instead, they face the far-less familiar threat of Yemen when the penultimate training camp winds down before hosting duties began at January 2019’s Asian Cup.
Here are the talking points ahead of the friendly clash at Al Wasl’s Zabeel Stadium:
BOLIVIA WASN’T BORING
A cursory look at Thursday’s goalless stalemate with Bolivia makes sorry reading.
This is not entirely fair. The 4-3-3 formation came alive thanks to the usage of wingers Saif Rashid and Ismail Al Hammadi, while centre midfielder Amer Abdulrahman rocked the crossbar with a volley plus cleared a header off his own line.
Al Nasr forward Mohamed Al Akbari also excelled off the bench in his first senior international since March.
Plenty of attacking endeavour was shown. This has not always been the case during miserable matches, such as August’s 0-0 draw with Andorra and September’s 2-0 loss to undercooked Trinidad and Tobago.
Progress. Of a kind.
YEMEN ARE NO PUSHOVERS
Tuesday night was originally planned to be an entirely different affair.
A gala event at refurbished Al Nahyan Stadium must now wait until March. The subsequent scramble to rope in Yemen at the last minute means the Whites are facing opponents ranked 131st by FIFA, rather than 58th.
This should not, however, be taken as being guarantor of a walkover.
The Yemenis are preparing for their first-ever Asian Cup. Friday’s first match since their berth was secured in March was a creditable 1-0 loss against a strong Saudi Arabia.
STAT’S NOT EASY
And still, the numbers make sorry reading for coach Alberto Zaccheroni.
His UAE record reads: five wins, six defeats, five draws, eight scored, nine conceded.
In the long-term absence of inspirational playmaker Omar Abdulrahman, goals must be conjured from somewhere – and fast.