Marcelo Mendes, the coach of the UAE’s beach soccer team, is confident his side can cause a stir at the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup in Marseille despite their recent shock defeat to Libya.

The UAE started their build-up to the event by playing at the Arab Beach Soccer Championships in Egypt at the start of this month.

After winning the the World Cup qualifying tournaments, held in Dubai, for the past two years, the UAE have cemented their reputation as Asia’s No1 beach soccer side.

Yet, despite their lofty ranking, they were humbled 5-3 by Libya in the final of the Arab Championship. Their Brazilian coach Mendes believes that defeat served as the perfect reality check for his players.

Mendes said: “I was disappointed, only because we expected to win that tournament.

“But I think it was important for the players. If we had won all the matches there, perhaps we would have made some mistakes here [in Marseille].

“What is most important for us is the World Cup – not the tournament in Egypt.

“We can learn more from what happened, the players learnt from their mistakes and saw what could happen.

“That loss will make us stronger. It was like a reality check for us.”

In addition to that outing in Egypt, Mendes’ side undertook a week long training camp in Milan, immediately before heading to Marseille.

“It was very good preparation,” Mended added.

“We were training twice per day, the weather was very hot, and we played one match against the Milano beach soccer team[ which they drew 5-5].”

The Emirates, led by the former Al Shabab and UAE captain Bakhit Saad, start their World Cup challenge against Cameroon tomorrow. They sealed their place in the Marseille showpiece by winning the Asia qualifier at Jumeirah Beach in Dubai.

Next year’s edition of beach soccer World Cup, which is played annually rather than every four years, will take place in Dubai.

The tournament organisers are still yet to decide on a suitable venue to erect a 6,000 seater temporary stadium, with Al Mamzar and Jumeirah beaches both under consideration.

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