Both Uzbekistan and the UAE have secured their places in the final and the forthcoming match will help decide the top team of the group as Uzbekistan leads with 9 points while the UAE are second with 6. Malaysia are at bottom after ending the campaign without a single point, GulfNews reported.

Srecko Katanec, the head coach of the UAE, supervised the team’s training sessions before leaving for Tashkent. The team faced injury problems that led to the exclusion of Esmail Mattar, Obaid Khalifa and Mahmoud Khamis while Basheer Saeed was released from the camp for personal obligations.

Mohammad Khalfan Al Rumaithi, the chairman of the UAE Football Association, met the players before they left for Uzbekistan and asked them to do their best to win the match. Uzbekistan had won the first leg with a single goal in Sharjah last year.

The UAE will train today at a different ground and tomorrow at the match venue. “We are looking forward to winning the match and leading the group," Rashid Al Za’abi, the head of delegation, told Gulf News yesterday. "Our team is not complete as injuries have denied us the services of some key players, but we have confidence ... they will finish as group leaders."