Italian Zaccheroni led the East Asians to their last continental title back in 2011 during four years at the helm of the Samurai Blue before stepping down following the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
After a short stint in China with Beijing Guoan in 2016, Zaccheroni was tempted back into international management in October last year as the UAE entrusted the former AC Milan and Juventus head coach as the man to bring glory to the Gulf state on home soil in early 2019.
“I would prefer not to play Japan early on,” Zaccheroni confessed. “They have a very strong squad and I would prefer to face them later in the tournament.
“It will be difficult for the UAE side to be at the top of their form from the start of the tournament.”
With an exciting attacking trio of Omar Abdulrahman, Ahmed Khalil and Ali Mabkhout, the UAE impressed at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia, defeating Zaccheroni’s former charges in the quarter-finals on the way to eventually finishing third.
Under long-term coach Mahdi Ali, many expected a golden generation of players to kick on in the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 qualifying campaign and advance to their second global showpiece after also appearing at the 1990 edition in Italy.
An away win in Japan at the beginning of the third round of qualifying appeared to stand them in good stead, but the Emiratis fell away. Mahdi stepped down before Edgardo Bauza came and went. Finally, Zaccheroni was handed the task of delivering a title-winning side in early 2019.
“We are going to concentrate solely on building our best national side in order to be ready to face the best national sides from all of Asia in the Asian Cup. My job during this time is to find the best players possible,” said Zaccheroni.
“The Asian Cup is currently our sole objective. We have had the King’s Cup in Thailand, which will be followed by a series of friendly matches on FIFA breaks.”
Zaccheroni, of course, knows how to win the continental competition, his Japan side having triumphed the hard way, defeating Korea Republic in the semi-final before overcoming current champions Australia in the 2011 final.
In that tournament, the 65-year-old had three of the best Japanese attacking talents of all time, with Shinji Kagawa, Shinji Okazaki and Keisuke Honda all in the squad.
However, he will not be attempting to construct a UAE side in the image of this successful team, instead moulding an identity that suits the players at his disposal.
“I haven’t had a lot of time with the players so far,” he added. “I am hoping to use my experience to create a team with a clear identity that fits the characteristics of the UAE players.
“Every team has different characteristics and the UAE is different from Japan. I don’t think my UAE side will play in the same way as my Japan team.
“Japan had very fast players and great resilience as a group. With the UAE, I am still trying to find the right balance between attack and defence.
“The Japan team scored a lot of goals and conceded very few. I would like to see the UAE do the same thing.”
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