UAE's young whites pay surprise visit to FIFA U-17 World Cup Fan Zone

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UAE’s rising stars took time off from training Saturday to greet fans at the FIFA U-17 World Cup Fan Zone on Abu Dhabi Corniche. The U-17 team headed down to the Fan Zone to join the crowds for huge tournament celebrations just ahead of taking on three-time champions, Brazil, at the Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium today, 20 October 20 at 20:00.

UAE team captain, Humaid Salmein, was happy to meet hundreds of their supporters and said: “The Fan Zone is a fantastic way to celebrate this amazing tournament in the UAE and I am so glad we took time off today to have some fun and meet with football fans in Abu Dhabi.

"The amount of support we have been getting since the tournament started is incredible and I hope we see each and every person that we met here at our match against Brazil today!”

UAE’s U-17s spent an action packed hour at the Fan Zone where they took fans on for a game of foosball, gave away UAE v Brazil match tickets to hundreds of lucky football-mad youngsters and posed for photos with some of the UAE team’s loyal fans before they left.

Speaking ahead of one of the biggest Group Stage matches for the UAE team coach Rashid said: “The UAE team are ready for tonight’s challenge and the players are looking forward to giving it their best on the pitch in front of thousands of UAE supporters.

"Fan support at the opening match against Honduras was extraordinary and we hope to see bigger numbers at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium today.”

Tournament tickets are available at the fan zone on a first come first served basis at no cost, and also online using the link on the right side of the page. Check out all the latest tournament news from the FIFA U-17 World Cup