Key issues facing UAE ahead of crucial 2022 World Cup qualifier against Iraq

The UAE take on Iraq in Saudi Arabia on Thursday in a potentially decisive 2022 World Cup qualifier. Currently third in Group A with two matches remaining, a win against fifth-placed Iraq will almost secure the final-round play-off spot with one match to spare. The UAE conclude their group campaign against already qualified South Korea on March 29.

Here, The National looks at some of the main talking points facing new manager Rodolfo Arruabarrena heading into Thursday’s crunch game in Riyadh.

Arruabarrena’s appointment last month came as a shock. OK, Bert van Marwijk’s future had been the subject of speculation for much of the previous few months, but with two qualifiers remaining, the Dutchman was expected to still be in situ. However, the FA opted for Arruabarrena instead. The Argentine, 46, has an excellent record within UAE club football, with Al Wasl and Shabab Al Ahli, but this marks his first taste of international management.

More pressingly, he has had only 10 days to work with his players. Of course, Arruabarrena knows the league, and visited numerous clubs before naming his squad, but he will need to have gotten across his philosophy in next-to-no time.

Ali Khaseif, the preferred goalkeeper under Van Marwijk, is unavailable, meaning Arruabarrena is without one of the country's most experienced players. Khaseif is viewed as both a leader on the pitch – he is often captain – and off it, a vocal presence in the dressing room, even if his recent UAE performances have been rightly criticised.

In his absence, Arruabarrena has brought back into the fold Khalid Essa and Majed Nasser, while Mohammed Al Shamsi continues to be called up. Both Essa and Nasser are hugely experienced, with the former more recently his