Alberto Zaccheroni is leaving no stone unturned in the preparations for the upcoming Asian Cup scheduled to be held in January 2019. UAE has been drawn alongside Bahrain, India and Thailand in the group stage of the marquee tournament of the continent.
Zaccheroni has already drawn an extensive blueprint for their preparations. The White Jersey will have five training camps with the first slated to be held in Austria from August 1-18.
After a break of two weeks, the team will congregate for their second camp in Spain to prepare for their first friendly against Trinidad and Tobago scheduled on September 6.
The third camp will commence from October 1, this time in Barcelona for ten days. The team will then head back to UAE for the last two camps which are scheduled for November and December respectively.
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The Italian coach has also ensured that his team remains in the thick of competitive action as a series of friendlies have been lined up in to complement these training camps. A marquee match against Argentina in Abu Dhabi is also on the radar to cap off the preparations.
While India is busy playing second string sides of lower ranked teams, their Asian Cup competitors are competing against top quality sides. Thailand, who are drawn alongside India in Group A, chose to fix an international friendly against China in Bangkok on June 2 and even though they lost 2-0, coach Milovan Rajevac admitted that his side had learnt a few important lessons.
Bahrain head coach Miroslav Soukup has also named a 34-player squad for an overseas camp in Czech Republic this month.
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