Trinidad and Tobago’s Justin Hoyte will be looking to impress the UAE in the sides' OSN Cup encounter with one eye on his future.
The Middlesbrough right-back has just one-year left on his contract at the Riverside and is open to the idea of moving to the UAE at some point in his career.
The former Arsenal player also has designs on Omar Abdulrahman’s shirt, which he plans to swap at the end of the game which kicks off at 7.45pm (UAE time) tonight.
“One day, I’d never rule it out,” Hoyte told Sport360° when asked about a move to the Arabian Gulf League. “I would always be interested. I have a year on my contract so you never know what opportunities will come from playing in these kinds of tournaments and I’d love to play out here one day.
“I can see why people come out here and the standard seems to be really good. They develop their local players which makes everything better. I’d never turn it down to come to the UAE.”
Hoyte admits his side know little about the UAE, but there is one player he will be watching closely. “We haven’t had a chance to see any of them,” the 28-year-old added. “I’ll watch a video before the game but we know they have a strong team. I watched them at the Olympics and I thought they were a really good team, played really well. They surprised a few people. “
Their number 10, with the curly-haired afro, he’s very good. I watched a few games on television and I have seen him play, I’m going to try and get his shirt after the game. The kid’s quality and we’ll get to see it.”
The second game of the evening sees hosts Saudi Arabia take on New Zealand at 10.15pm UAE time. New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert said: “The pace and technical ability of all teams at this tournament will be high and this will be an important test for us.”
The winners of the opening fixtures will contest a final on Monday after a third/fourth place play-off. Organisers are expecting crowds of 60,000 people.