Matar optimistic of UAE’s chances under Ali

Sport360 staff 22:03 01/09/2014
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  • Ismail Matar has been a fantastic servant to his national team.

    UAE striker Ismail Matar is looking forward to a return to the pitch in a couple of weeks after being ruled out of action due to an injury to his left knee.

    Speaking to the UAE FA's official website from his national side's training camp in Linz, Austria, Matar said he would be hoped to be fully recovered in four weeks and that no surgery would be needed in the process.

    Matar will not only return to action i ntime for Wahda's new Arabian Gulf League season but also in time to get games under his belt ahead of the UAE's Gulf Cup campaign in Riyadh and the AFC Asian Cup 2015 finals in Australia, later this year.

    “I have reached an advanced stage,” he said. “I was examined by three specialists in football injuries in Munich, Germany, and they have all agreed that I’m suffering a crack in the basic stone of the left knee which should be handled carefully with injections and physiotherapy without any need for surgical intervention."

    Matar, who led the UAE to their first Gulf Cup of Nations title in 2007 said he was also hoping to break his duck in the Asian Cup, hinting that Australia may be his last outing in a UAE shirt. 

    “I have never struck in any of the previous AFC Asian Cup championships and I need to end my drought in Australia 2015 before ending my international career as well,” he said.

    “I think we are very close to claim our first AFC Asian Cup silverware in the light of the convincing qualification to the finals with five wins and a draw. But, we need to do more since facing opponents in the caliber of Iran, Bahrain and Qatar in the group stage is not going to be easy at all. We have finished runners up to KSA in 1996 and the time has come to go one better this time out."

    Regarding the chances of the Whites to retain their Gulf Cup title which they have won in Bahrain 2012, Matar said the upcoming edition of the regional competition is going to be equally difficult.

    “Nobody can deny that UAE has been drawn in a tough group featuring Iraq, Kuwait and Oman which was termed as the ‘iron group’, but in order to win the title, you have to beat all your opponents,” he said.

    “In my opinion, we have every chance to defend our crown. We have won all our matches in Bahrain and defeated Iraq in the final. The Whites are making a steady progress in the FIFA Ranking and this has made our opponents in Gulf region take us very seriously and we need to be careful.

    Matar backed the UAE FA's decision to extend the contract of head coach Mahdi Ali until 2018, pointing out that Ali is capable to guide the team to a second World Cup in Russia. 

    “I think this generation of players deserves all support as they have every chance to repeat the achievement of the 1990 and do it again for the nation,” he said. “I’m truly obliged to the head coach Mahdi Ali for calling me once again for the senior football national team.

    It’s true that I didn’t take part in any of the training sessions during the current Austrian tour, but Ali’s confidence was of great help for me and has played a major role during my stay in Munich."

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