The UAE closed out their Austria training camp with a 4-0 defeat in their friendly against Venezuela on Tuesday night.
The national team, who last week lost 1-0 in a friendly to Paraguay, were 3-0 down at half time to goals from Jefferson Savarino, Salomon Rondon and Jhon Chancellor. Josef Martinez added a fourth for Venezuela in the 77th minute.
The UAE were much changed for the match in Wiener Neustadt, just south of Vienna, with all-time leading goalscorer Ali Mabkhout not featuring in the squad. Defenders Ahmed Jamil and Saeed Juma, both new additions to the national team set-up, were given starts by manager Rodolfo Arruabarrena, while the Argentine made a raft of changes during the second half.
The match concluded the UAE’s 11-day camp, with the national team travelling back to the Emirates on Wednesday. The get-together marked the beginning of the UAE’s long preparations for a number of competitive tournaments in the first half of next year, starting with the Arabian Gulf Cup in Iraq in January.
After that, the UAE contest the West Asian Football Federation Championship, on home soil, in March and April, before focus switches to the 2023 Asian Cup next summer. The host country is yet to be confirmed following China’s withdrawal in May from staging the tournament.
The UAE’s next camp runs from November 13 to 19, where they take on Argentina and Kazakhstan in friendlies.
