Cosmin puts the final touches to the national team’s lineup

Yesterday, in Abu Dhabi, the national football team launched the second and final phase of the preparation program, as part of its preparations for the first-leg match against its counterpart, the Iraqi national team, scheduled for eight o’clock in the evening the day after tomorrow, at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Al Jazira Club in Abu Dhabi, as part of the Asian qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup.

The team’s daily training will continue in Abu Dhabi until the match date, with the team performing its basic training in the stadium where the match will be held.

During training, the Romanian coach, Elario Cosmin, puts the final touches on the method of play and the match plan, as well as the starting lineup that will play the match, by focusing on the players who are most prepared technically, physically, and mentally, in order to resolve the first leg, and to facilitate the team’s task during the return match, which will be held, on the 18th of this month, at the Basra City Stadium in Iraq, and the winner between the UAE and Iraq teams will qualify, with the aggregate results of the two matches, for the global playoff. Qualification for the World Cup.

During its last camp in Dubai, the team performed intensive training during which the technical staff focused on the technical, physical and tactical aspects, in addition to focusing on the process of harmony and understanding between the players. Coach Kuzmin was also keen during these training sessions to address some of the defensive gaps that caused the team to concede easy goals, the last of which was the Qatari team’s two goals in the last match in the World Cup qualifying round, which deprived the team of a historic opportunity to qualify directly for the World Cup.

The recent training sessions also focused on some exercises for goalkeepers Khaled Issa, Ali Khasif, and Hamad Al-Muqbali, with the aim of bringing them to the stage of full readiness for the upcoming match.

It is expected that the starting lineup that Kuzmin will field in the upcoming match will witness some minor changes, especially at the level of the defense line after the fatal individual errors that occurred during the national team’s match with Qatar. The lineup is also expected to witness some changes in the midfield, due to the exclusion of Majed Hassan and Fabio Lima from the final list of the national team, noting that Majed and Lima were essential in the national team’s lineup in the first match with the Oman national team.