United Arab Emirates coach Mahdi Ali warned his players Wednesday not to rely too much on sparkling midfielder Omar Abdulrahman in the Asian Cup clash against Bahrain.
Abdulrahman, whose frizzy mop of hair has similarities with Manchester United's Marouane Fellaini, but whose play is more reminiscent of Barcelona's Neymar, starred in UAE's opening Asian Cup 4-1 thrashing of Qatar.
The silky playmaker looked dangerous throughout, showing trickery and imagination as the Emiratis came from a goal down to run out clear winners against their Gulf rivals in Canberra on Saturday.
A win against Bahrain on Thursday would all but see UAE progress to the quarter-finals from Group C. Ali expects 23-year-old Abdulrahman to shine again -- but he called on every player to do their bit.
"Of course Omar is a talented player, he's one of the main players in the team," Ali told reporters.
"I was very happy that he played 90 minutes against Qatar because he has come back after one-and-a-half months out injured.
"But we are playing as a team and Omar is a member of the team. For him to be doing his best and showing all his qualities and abilities he needs support from the team," the manager added.
Bahrain must get something from the match if they are to have any chance of making the knock-out stages after losing 2-0 to Iran in their first game.
Source: AFP
GMT 08:16 2018 Tuesday ,23 January
what to do about FedererGMT 07:34 2018 Friday ,19 January
Time for talks on players' welfareGMT 10:25 2018 Tuesday ,16 January
We fear Sterling more than KaneGMT 09:30 2018 Saturday ,13 January
'Russian skiers are clean'GMT 13:54 2018 Friday ,12 January
BOC: ‘Only Gold’ slogan for 2018GMT 10:31 2018 Tuesday ,09 January
US runner-up snubbed for OlympicsGMT 21:46 2018 Monday ,08 January
Bahrain, Tunisia discuss youth, sport cooperationGMT 12:43 2018 Thursday ,04 January
won't sell unless replacements bought inMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor