The UAE team arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday after holding a two-day training camp in Dubai following their exit from the Gulf Cup with a humiliating 3-0 defeat to Saudi Arabia.

The UAE played three matches in group B in the Gulf Cup in Muscat, beating Yemen 3-1, drawing goalless with Qatar and losing to Saudi Arabia.

They failed to defend the title they won for the first time in 2007.

The squad which left for Malaysia included 21 players. French coach Dominique Bathenay dismissed four players from the team that took part in the Gulf Cup in Oman due to injury.

The four players are Mohammad Ebrahim, Mohammad Qassim, Saleh Obaid and Ahmad Dada.

The UAE team held a training session yesterday at the national stadium in Kuala Lumpur.

Esmail Rashid, team manager, said the match was very important for the UAE.

"The match is of great importance for us after we lost in the Gulf Cup recently.

"The win against Malaysia on Wednesday will be a big boost and will help the players recapture morale to prepare for the coming matches in the Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers," Rashid said.

He said the team includes many experienced players who can overcome the failure of the Gulf Cup and assist their younger teammates.

The UAE team will return on Thursday to continue preparations for the second match in the Asian qualifiers against Uzbekistan on 28 January at Sharjah stadium.

The UAE team’s participation in the Asian Cup began in 1980 when they qualified for the finals in Kuwait for the first time. They continued taking part in the finals in Singapore 1984, Qatar 1988, Japan 1992 and hosted the finals in 1996 in Abu Dhabi when they won the silver medal after losing to Saudi Arabia on penalty kicks.

They also participated in the China finals in 2004 and the last time was in 2007 when four countries (Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia) hosted the finals.