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Croatian Zlatko Dalic has announced a 26-man squad for the UAE national team to compete in the 27th Arabian Gulf Cup, scheduled to be held in the Saudi city of Jeddah from September 23 to October 6.
The UAE, champions of the 2007 and 2013 editions, will play in Group B alongside Qatar, Bahrain, and Yemen.
Dalic, runner-up in the 2018 World Cup and third in the 2022 edition with Croatia, took over as UAE coach in August, replacing Romanian Cosmin Olaroiu. Consequently, his first squad saw no major surprises and retained most of the names that participated in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The list included 16 naturalized players, including four newcomers: Yuri Cesar and Bala Guilherme from Shabab Al-Ahli, Amadou Coulibaly (Al-Jazira), and Ousmane Camara (Sharjah).
Here is the list:
Goalkeepers: Khalid Eisa (Al-Ain), Hamad Al-Maqbali (Shabab Al-Ahli), Fahad Al-Dhanhani (Baniyas).
Defenders: Zayed Al-Ameri (Al-Nasr), Khalifa Al-Hammadi, Ruben Philip, and Marcus Meloni (Al-Jazira), Alaaeddine Zouhir and Lucas Pimenta (Al-Wahda), Sasa Ivkovic (Al-Wasl), Erik Menezes (Al-Ain), Khalid Al-Dhanhani (Sharjah).
Midfielders: Luan Pereira and Harib Abdalla (Sharjah), Abdulla Hamad (Al-Wahda), Mamadou Coulibaly (Al-Jazira), Issam Faiz (Al-Nasr), Fabio Lima and Nicolas Gimenez (Al-Wasl).
Forwards: Bruno Oliveira (Al-Jazira), Ali Saleh (Al-Wasl), Yuri Cesar, Bala Guilherme, and Sultan Adil (Shabab Al-Ahli), Richard Ofori (Göztepe, Turkey), Ousmane Camara (Sharjah).
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