What’s On details live football in the UAE with the UAE football team to host Australia in October. Find out about the Asian Cup 2015 and UAE bid for 2019.

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The UAE National Football team will host Australia in a friendly later this year, as both sides prepare for the AFC Asian Cup 2015.

The Socceroos recently returned from the World Cup where they earned plaudits for their effort and organisation, despite failing to register a point from a tough group including defending champions Spain, semi-finalists Holland and much-hailed Chile. Star man Tim Cahill also scored one of the goals of the tournament, a sumptuous volley against Holland.

The match, a first between the two nations, is part of series of warm-up matches for the competition between August and January 2015. Things kick off in Norway on August 27 before moving onto Lithuania a week later.

Back on home soil, the UAE welcome Australia (Friday October 10) and Uzbekistan (Tuesday October 14), before visits from Jordan and Kuwait at the turn of the year.

Socceroos manager, Ange Postecoglou hopes the fixtures against the UAE and, afterwards, Qatar will be great preparation for the Asian Cup. He said: “We will get some good hit outs against Asian opposition to help us prepare tactically for the Asian Cup.”

The Asian Cup takes place across the land Down Under early next year, starting on January 9. Matches will be held in Sydney, Melbourne, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle. The UAE have been pooled with Qatar, Bahrain and another from the recent World Cup, Iran.

In May, the UAE submitted their bid to host the tournament in 2019. Facing strong opposition from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Oman and Kuwait – following the withdrawal of China and Bahrain – they hope the successful hosting of last year’s FIFA Under 17 World Cup will stand them in good stead.

Speaking in May, the bid was endorsed by Sheikh Salman from the Asian Football Confederation.

“The UAE have successfully hosted many international competitions and major events in the past and that is what is helping their bid,” he said. “Of course the decision is not in my hands as there is an executive committee that is responsible for studying all the bids but I believe the UAE has a strong chance.

“There are many countries in the running, it’s a tight race and the final decision will be announced around the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia.”