The UAE suffered a 2-0 defeat to North Korea in their final friendly before they embark on the third and final 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Japan and Australia next week.

The game was played behind closed doors in Shanghai.

UAE coach Mahdi Ali is unlikely to be too worried about the loss as he was without 10 players from Al Ain and Al Nasr due to their AFC Champions League quarter-final commitments.

Among those missing were playmaker Omar Abdul Rahman, who will fly to join his team-mates in China today. Al Nasr pair Khalid Jalal and Salem Saleh travelled separately from Qatar after last night’s game.