The United Arab Emirates face off against Iraq for third place in the Asian Cup Friday but the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers are now looming large on the horizon.
"We played three games against the teams who qualified for the last World Cup in Japan, Iran and Australia," UAE coach Mahdi Ali told reporters Thursday.
"We played well in these three games and there was not a big gap between these teams and it gives us the confidence we have a chance to qualify for the next World Cup."
The UAE qualified for the World Cup for the only time in 1990 and victory over Iraq in Newcastle would be their best Asian Cup finish when not hosting the competition.
Creative midfielder Omar Abdulrahman has been one of the players of the tournament, attracting interest from European clubs, while one more goal against the UAE is likely to earn Ali Mabkhout the golden boot as competition top scorer.
That sets up a young squad nicely for the Russia 2018 qualifiers which begin in the middle of the year.
"We have to work hard and plan better than before as it will be hard with the new draw system where you have a group of eight," Ali said. "It is good chance for us to qualify for Russia as we have a good generation.
"We came to this competition with the main goal of reaching the semi-final and we have achieved that. It would have been great to play in the final, but we tried our best and worked very hard to achieve that.
"Third place is very important for the team. "We are only thinking about the game and winning. It is important for us to go back home happy."
