#360view: Road to 2018 World Cup final tough but UAE are good enough

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  • Facing challenges head on: UAE's football team.

    The UAE took the first steps yesterday on a long road with an uncertain ending to 2018 World Cup qualification.

    Mahdi Ali’s charges were picked out of the bowls for the Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2 draw during a drab Asian Football Confederation ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which lacked all the grandeur of those lavishly hosted by their UEFA counterparts in Switzerland. 

    Four finals spots and an intercontinental play-off berth have been gifted to Asia since 2002. Yet this time, the UAE begin their quest with it still not known how many Asian nations will be present among the 32 who make it all the way to Russia.

    The AFC’s World Cup-destiny has fallen into the hands of those grandstanding for the FIFA presidency.

    Rumoured horsetrading between the candidates for votes has seen the allocation of places per federation for the tournament acting as currency, buying favour and power.

    No decision on the matter will be made by the world governing body’s executive committee until May 30, a day after the election.

    The World Cup hopes of this golden generation who have developed from bright hopefuls in the youth team, to Under-23 London 2012 Olympic qualifiers and third-placed finishers at January’s Asian Cup could reside on the outcome.

    Their stunning success Down Under in January has seen them move up to 68th in the world, good enough for fifth-best in Asia. 

    But if the qualification process runs true to form, an intercontinental play-off will be needed to make football’s premier tournament for just the second time in the nation’s history.

    Only four spots are given straight away to Asia. One of the higher-ranked heavyweights Iran, Japan, South Korea and Australia will need to be nudged out in the third round if modern protocol is cast aside.

    The path to Russia for the UAE is already a sizable one.

    Two group stages must be successfully navigated, a failure to finish in the top two in whichever of the two third-round pools they are assigned leading to a potential pair of two-legged play-offs – the decisive one against a nation from a yet-to-be-decided confederation – depending on ExCo’s choice.

    Group A is not without its difficulties for the UAE. Only one nation is guaranteed progression, with the best-performing quartet of runners-up from the eight pools following them.

    The presence of Saudi Arabia and Palestine means it is one of only two to contain three 2015 Asian Cup qualifiers.

    A straight fight for top spot against the neighbouring Green Falcons seems certain.

    Prevail and the path opens to a date with destiny at the end of 2017, be it through third-round success or a politically-determined play-off. 

    The FIFA presidential election and the mystery of the final World Cup per federation places has created confusion. But this is only a sideshow for the ever-improving UAE.

    As they showed by stunning holders Japan on the way to a staggering third-place finish at the Asian Cup, they have the ability to extract themselves from such politicking.

    Inspired by Omar Abdulrahman’s brilliance, automatic progression is well within their powers without entrusting blind faith in the play-off lottery.

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