Al Serkal sets realistic target for dream team

The Acting President of the UAE Football Association (UAEFA) has set a realistic target of at least a second-round entry into the football competition at this summer's Olympic Games in London. "We need to be realistic. We all know that this is a good team, but then one should not be judged as per the standards of football in Asia compared to where the sport is at the international level," Yousuf Al Serkal, Acting President, UAEFA, told Gulf News after returning with the national squad from Tashkent Thursday. "This is Asia and we first need to be realistic that we have not yet reached the standard of football that is played at the international level. We simply cannot say that we have reached a level where we can consistently and successfully compete against international sides or that we can go all the way and win the gold medal or a trophy at the highest level," Al Serkal added. "So considering this background, I think our first goal will be to go past the preliminary rounds of the competition, and then make it to the knockout stages. And then, whatever comes after that is acceptable to us," he said. As per competition regulations, the three second-placed teams from the final stages that concluded on Wednesday — Oman, Syria and Uzbekistan — will now be involved in a three-way play-off at the MY Dinh Stadium in Vietnam from March 25-29. The winner of this competition will go on to face Senegal [fourth-placed side in Africa] at the City of Coventry Stadium in the UK on April 23. The men's football competition at the Olympics will have 16 teams, including the hosts who will be divided into four groups for a preliminary round contest before entering the knock-out stages. Asia and Africa have 3.5 places during qualifying, while North and South America have two spots each along with three teams from Europe and one from the Oceania region. Al Serkal further tipped this same team to be the rightful heirs to leading the national squad in future football exploits.