Star playmaker Omar Abdulrahman showed no ill effect of the niggling knee injury that has hampered his domestic season as the UAE took part in their first training session in Riyadh ahead of their Gulf Cup title defence.
Abdulrahman, 23, joined in with all the drills at Al Riyadh Stadium on the west of the Saudi Arabian capital four hours after the Whites arrived from their two-week camp in Dammam. There had been doubts over his participation given he has not played for club Al Ain since September 30, but he looks set to be involved in the Group B opener against Oman at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium on Friday (18:45).
Watched on by an array of travelling dignitaries from the Emirates, the midfielder even stretched and sprinted through a testing cone drill. Hopes were raised about Abdulrahman’s condition last Thursday when he came on in the second half of the 3-2 friendly victory against Lebanon.
Al Wahda’s Amer Omar will definitely miss the competition, however, after being chosen as the man cut to fit the required 23-man squad. The winger was called up to the training party after excelling for Arabian Gulf League leaders Al Wahda, scoring five goals in eight matches. He will remain with the squad in Saudi rather than head home, continuing to be a presence on the training pitch. The only player showing any ill effects was Al Ahli midfielder Majed Hassan, who required treatment on what appeared to be blisters at one stage.
Any real hints of tactics and team selection were denied the watching media, as per Gulf Cup regulations part of the session remained closed.
With Abdulrahman seemingly set to start, the key issue for coach Mahdi Ali is whether the misfiring strike partnership of Ahmed Khalil and Ali Mabkhout is broken up to return to a 4-2-3-1 formation.
