“We have a strong group. We have Egypt, who are Arabia champions, Italy, who became European champions last month, and USA, who were also champions in qualifying. We began our preparations last year. Our players are so focused, the players are training so hard. We want to take it target by target Our first target is to reach the knockout phase for the first time I our history.” Victor Vasques, United Arab Emirates coach “It’s a balanced group. We have Italy, which recently won the Euro Beach Soccer championship. We have United Arab Emirates – the hosts – which are always a difficult team. We will now have played the hosts in four World Cups, so we know it’s a challenge. And Egypt, we have played them in the past and we know they are very physical and a very strong team. It’s a World Cup and every team is there for a reason. Everybody wants to win, and it’s a chance of a lifetime to make a good impression and represent their country. We know it’s going to be difficult.” Francis Farberoff, USA coach

“I think we must play our matches at 1,000 per cent. We must play every game as if it is the game of our lives. Nothing is easy at a World Cup. Now that Italy are European champions, everyone expects so much from us. We will do our utmost to carry Italy’s name high.” Emmanuele Zurlo, Italy captain