Fourth place in Asia is a "wake-up call" ahead of the UAE 2023 World Cup

Does the beach team suffer ignoring the Football Association

They lost to Japan in the Asian Cup semi-finals 1-5. From the source

Athletes called on the Football Association to pay attention to the beach soccer team before its participation in the World Cup hosted by the UAE on the beaches of Dubai, from 16 to 26 November (UAE 2023), considering that the Whites' fourth place in the Asian Cup, which concluded, recently, in Thailand, is an alarm bell that sounded the alarm for this team, which is preparing to participate in the largest tournament in the world in this game, especially since it has already achieved achievements Universality.

It is noteworthy that the UAE national team participated eight times in the Asian Cup, and succeeded in winning its title twice in 2007 and 2008, then won the title of runner-up of the Asian continent twice in the 2017 and 2018 editions, but during its last participation in the 2023 Asian Cup in Thailand, it came in fourth place after winning the group stage against Uzbekistan (4-4), and Malaysia (2-2), while losing to Iran (7-4), and qualified for the quarterfinals of the tournament, and succeeded in defeating Thailand ( 2-1), then faced Japan in the semi-finals, but lost (5-<>).

The athletes considered that the team has been suffering from ignoring the Football Association for quite some time, and there is no clear strategy to maintain its achievements that have been achieved in the past, which have declined in recent years.

Former players, coaches and administrators, who spoke to "Emirates Today", set the road map for the "white beaches" before next World Cup, calling for the need to develop a strong program for the national team, which is to establish a regular local activity at the beach level and permanent camps for the team, play with international teams, and solve the problems suffered by the players, which were the reason for the decline in the level of results.

• Athletes propose solutions and draw up the roadmap ahead of the World Cup.

• There is no clear strategy to maintain the team's achievements.

Al-Mazmi: Naturalization of 3 players is the solution

The former coach of the beach soccer team, Mohammed Al-Mazmi, believes that the «white» achieved the best that can be achieved in the Asian Championship, in addition to the weak period of preparation for this tournament, which included the best teams of the yellow continent, as it qualifies for the Beach World Cup in the UAE during this year.

He said: «I lived with this generation of players for not short periods, and I am well aware of the size of the effort and giving they provide to the national team in very difficult circumstances, and if the required amount of support and potential is available, the «white» will go to a distant place, not only Asian, but also globally.

Al-Mazmi suggested to officials in the Football Association that three players be naturalized to support the national team in the Beach World Cup.

"Most of the big teams in beach soccer have supported their ranks with a number of naturalized players, led by Japan, which is one of the top seeds," he said.

Al-Mazmi continued: «Our national team needs a lot of work in the coming period, and before the start of the World Cup, and the most important thing we need is a permanent local activity, continuous camps, and playing friendly matches in the largest possible number, to give the players experience of big matches in a forum like this».

Mohamed Al-Kous: Getting fourth place is not enough for ambitions

The former director of the national beach soccer team, Mohammed Al-Kous, said that obtaining fourth place in the recent Asian Beach Championship is not enough for the ambitions of the people of the game, or the fans who are accustomed to the permanent victories of the «white» Asian, Gulf, Arab and also global.

He said: «The justification for lack of preparation reflects from my point of view only one thing, which is that the Football Association and its officials are not interested in this team at all, and that their first goal is to participate just to participate without caring about the history of this team in Asia».

He pointed out: «The team is waiting for important benefits and participation in the World Cup requires the Football Association to unite around the team more, and I recommend them first to solve the problems of the players to be more pure mentality, with the establishment of camps throughout the coming period, and play many friendly matches with teams ranked top in the world, and without that our appearance will be weak in World Cup».

Bakhit Saad: We have to learn from Brazil and Russia

The former star of the beach soccer team and a member of the golden generation, Bakhit Saad, said that "the level and results of the national team fluctuated in the past years, due to poor planning for the future."

He added: «teams like Brazil and Russia, you see all the time strong and do not weaken over time, because they have long-term plans to prepare generations to receive the flag from each other, and local activities throughout the year, and have professional players abroad in large numbers, these things helped those teams to be in all the tournaments in which they play».

He pointed out: «Beach soccer is no longer like the first, the strength of teams has become dependent on young elements that have tremendous physical strength, and have a stock of experience gained from permanent contact, whether in official tournaments, or through friendly matches, the idea of beach foot has some simple details that make the difference in matches and tournaments, and if we do not pay attention to those details, we will not achieve the results we hope».

He continued: «The team achieved fourth place in the last Asian Championship, and if we were not going to host World Cup (White) would have been out of the tournament, given that the top three teams in the continental championship are the ones who will qualify for the World Cup, and therefore our fourth place is not feasible from a practical point of view.

• Beach team results at the World Cup

2007: 14th place

2008: 10th place

2009: 10th place

2015: 15th place

2017: Ninth place

2018: 12th place

2019: 13th place

• Beach team results in the Asian Cup

2006: V

2007: The Hero

2008: The Hero

2011: IV

2013: III

2015: V

2017: Runner-up

2019: Runner-up

2023: IV

Beach team results in the Confederations Championship

2011: Fourth place

2012: Third place

2013: Third place

2014: Fourth place

2015: Fourth place

2016: Seventh place

2017: Fifth place

2018: Seventh place

2019: Third place

2021: Eighth place

2022: Fourth place