15 Nov 2011

Mendes: ?It's our chance to get back to the top?

UAE National Team is doing a tough work to get to the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup in their best shape

With just a week to go for the beginning of the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup 2011, the UAE National team is working their fine-tuning at full speed for the tournament. National Coach, Marcelo Mendes, assures that “we are undergoing a good preparation, combining daily training sessions with friendly matches to test our state of shape”. The squad has been working enthusiastically at Mamzar Beach for the last weeks, and as of this Tuesday will gather together at the hotel for a better concentration.

One of the most demanding stages of this schedule is the friendly match the UAE is going to play against the current World Champions, Russia, next Thursday, November 17th. “We need to play against the strongest so as to get ready for the competition”, assured the UAE National Coach. In fact, the team has already played and won some friendly fixtures against Qatar and Lebanon, and the game against the Russians becomes the ultimate test to see the team’s real level.

Mendes and the whole squad know that this Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup 2011 is their chance to get even with the bad taste of getting sidelined from the last FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in the Asian Qualifier. “It is our chance to get back to the top, and to show our fans and the rest of the world that what happened in Oman was an accident, something unlucky. We want to prove that we are a really competitive team”.

The Brazilian-born coach also highlighted the importance of the tournament, and the benefit  it means for the growth of the sport in the UAE. “There are many big, powerful teams taking part in this tournament: World Cup winners, Continental Champions, etc. We will need to give our very best to survive, but, at the same time, it is really good for us to face such big monsters as Russia, Brazil, Switzerland, Nigeria… It is important for us to play against these champions, since it makes us grow and go ahead. It is always better to play against big teams, as this makes you bigger as well”.

At the same time, Marcelo pointed his absolute confidence in the event becoming a great success, thanks to Dubai being a top-class resort for the highest-level International sports competitions and the Dubai Sports Council excellence and experience is this kind of events: “Dubai knows really well how to do a great job”, he assured.