FIFA Rank: (T-107) (17th in Asia)
Previous Encounters: None at Senior Level.
2010 AFC U-19 Qualifying: D 2-2
2008 Olympic Qualifying: L 1-2, D 1-1
2006 AFC U-19 Qualifying: L 0-3
2010 Results: [UPDATED: 9/18/2010]
Friendly v. Tajikistan L 0-1
Asian Cup Q. v. Japan L 2-3
Asian Cup Q. v. Bahrain W 3-0
Unofficial v. Togo U-20 D 0-0
Unofficial v. Togo U-20 W 2-1
Friendly v. Malawi W 1-0
Friendly v. Oman L 0-1
Unofficial v. Burkina Faso D 2-2
Unofficial v. Macedonia L 0-1
Unofficial @ Manisaspor L 2-1
Friendly v. Syria W 2-1
Friendly v. Zambia L 0-1
Overall: 5W 3D 7L (GF: 16 GA: 15)
WAFF Squad: ٍSrecko Juricic doesn’t have many foreign based players to choose from but has created a tightly knit unit that is much improved. Yemen have secured positive results at home having beaten experimental Bahraini and Syrian sides. On the road they have been far less successful losing to Malaysia and Manispor and drawing Hong Kong 0-0 in an Asian Cup Qualifier. In fact, the Yemenis haven’t won away from San’a for over four years. Their last away victory was a 3-0 Asian Cup Qualifying triumph over India in early 2006. Yemen is also expected to be the least cosmopolitan squad in Group C, with the only foreign based player being Goalkeeper Salim Saeed of Oman’s Al-Nasr.
Key Players: Although Yemen is famous for its political instability its footballing infrastructure has been slowly improving over the past decade. Yemen qualified for the U17 FIFA World Cup in 2003 and there are a couple of holdovers in the present squad (Midfielders Akram Al-Worafi and Khaled Baleid). The goals come from the brilliantly named Ali Al-Nono, Yemen has a good record when he finds the back of the of winning.
