Mahdi Ali has handed a trio of youngsters their first call-ups to the UAE national team for a training camp later this month, but there is again no place for Ismail Matar.

Ahmed Rabea, Ali Salmeen and Yousif Saeed have all been included by Mahdi in the 24-man party for an internal get-together on May 14, before they embark on a trip to an as yet undisclosed location in Europe six days later.

However with 13 players included from Al Ahli and Al Ain the bulk of the squad will not be available until after the President’s Cup on May 18.

Jazira forward, Rabea, 18, has enjoyed an encouraging campaign since the arrival of Walter Zenga at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium last October, scoring six goals in all competitions while deployed largely as a left winger.

Nineteen-year-old midfielder Salmeen, meanwhile, has proved a rare bright spot in a difficult season for Al Wasl, breaking into the first team and playing 18 Arabian Gulf League games, while Saeed, also 19, has scored four times as Sharjah enjoyed an impressive return to the top flight.

UAE coach Mahdi will have the chance to run the rule over the three teenagers when the Whites meet up next Wednesday and there is also a place in the 24-man squad for Ahli goalkeeper Ahmed Mahmoud, who is yet to win a senior cap despite having been called up during the Asian Cup qualifiers.

He is one of seven Red Knights players in the party and replaces Sharjah custodian Mohamed Yousif as the third-choice keeper.

There is also no room for Gulf Cup of Nations-winning winger Haboush Saleh, while the man who led the UAE to that triumph, Matar, misses out for the second international running.

The Al Wahda forward was dropped for March’s final Asian Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan but despite playing an influential role in the run of form that has seen his club side climb up to second, he has not done enough to earn a recall.

Matar, who recently signed a contract extension until 2018 at the Al Nahyan Stadium, remained philisophical on his UAE future when speaking to Sport360 last month.

“For me as a player I want to be in the national team,” he said. “But it is not a hope, it is the selection of the national coach and I have to respect that.”

UAE squad
Goalkeepers: Khalid Essa, Ali Khaseif, Ahmed Mahmoud
Defenders: Walid Abbas, Ismail Ahmed, Mohammed Ahmed, Hamdan Al Kamali, Abdulaziz Haikal, Mohannad Salem, Abdulaziz Sanqoor, Eisa Santo
Midfielders: Mohamed Abdulrahman, Omar Abdulrahman, Ismail Al Hammadi, Khamis Esmail, Habib Fardan, Mohammed Fawzi, Majed Hassan, Ali Salmeen
Forwards: Ahmed Khalil, Ali Mabkhout, Ahmed Rabea, Yousif Saeed, Salem Saleh