It’s bizarre. One of those statistics you don’t believe the first time you hear it or see it.

The UAE, a country that ranks among the dozen most formidable soccer countries in Asia … and not one of its players play outside the country.

None.

This is driving crazy the national coach, a Slovenian guy named Srecko Katanec.

Especially considering some recent changes in the soccer world.

To wit:

–Manchester City of the Premier League is owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, half-brother of the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the UAE, and …

–A group from Dubai just purchased the middling Spanish top-flight team Getafe … and one of the principles in the deal said it would be nice to have an Emirati play for Getafe. Basically asking for a spot to be cleared for one.

I did a column on this for The National, and here it is.

Katanec, who knows something about all this, having led Slovenia to the 2002 World Cup, believes the current UAE national team has a half-dozen guys who could succeed in European leagues. He said several of them have “crazy-good” technical skills.

American fans know how this works. Imagine the trouble the Yanks would be having if most of their national team was still playing only in Major League Soccer, if Dempsey, Bocanegra, Howard, Cherundolo, Altidore, etc., were not honing their skills overseas. Yeah, we’d be losing to Honduras.

The UAE is getting none of that training. And, worse, for the UAE, Major League Soccer is just plain better than the UAE Pro League, currently home to every UAE national player.

The issues are tricky, and not fully outlined by Katanec in the story.

–Emirati players make a ton of money playing at home. They would have to take pay cuts to play at, say, Getafe.

–Emiratis are known for wanting to be near their families. It is considered weird to leave your family behind for a job.

–Cultural issues could be in play. Would young players be comfortable in a non-Muslim country with few Arabs?

–And would UAE clubs be willing to part with one or two of their best players?

The point, of course, is that young players get better playing and, especially, training with ultra-competitive European sides. The UAE is trying to survive internationally without anyone getting this training.

Katanec said players can succeed in the UAE by doing half the work they would have to do in Europe.

Some of the younger guys understand this … or just want to be part of the Premier League or La Liga or Seria A.

It’s something the UAE needs to do to move forward, or even remain relevant. Whether it will happen, now that Emiratis are going to be running not one but two major Euro clubs … well, if it doesn’t happen now, it probably never will. Slot in a couple of guys at each club, training with the first team, maybe playing with the second … it would make this a stronger soccer country.