Khamis Esmail cuts an assured character.
Now 25, he is at the heart of things for club and country.
The sizeable midfielder has grown into an ever-influential figure, playing the game at his pace. He shows no fluster when thrust into the centre of an Al Jazira side that concedes and scores with joyful abandon.
The UAE are a more controlled beast, but it is in the Whites engine-room that competition burns brightest and expectation to extend an upwards trajectory grips.
Pressure with the national team not only comes from maintaining a starting spot but keeping standards high. November’s Gulf Cup defence and the true test of this golden generation to come at January’s Asian Cup account for that.
Coach Mahdi Ali has an enviable array of deep-lying midfielders to pick from, even with the loss to injury of Al Ahli tyro Majed Hassan for Friday’s friendly against Australia and Tuesday’s meeting with Uzbekistan.
Esmail should slot in alongside returning Bani Yas figurehead Amer Abdulrahman at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, the double-act reunited from the undefeated late-summer run against Norway, Lithuania and Paraguay. Two into three doesn’t go in a 4-2-3-1 formation, but this equation only spurs him on.
“It is good for the team to have this kind of competition,” Esmail said at an adidas event celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Predator boot.
“Each new player to the team will try his best to be first choice.
“It is the same for me, I try my best. At the end of the day, it is the manager’s decision but it is good for everyone.
“For me, I try to learn from more experienced players. It is good for me to develop myself when I play with such strong players.
“We missed him [Amer Abdulrahman] a lot. Thank God, he is now back and is back in a strong way.
“I believe he is even more motivated after coming back – he will give even more.”
The UAE have a target on their back for next month’s tournament in Saudi Arabia, but it is one they are aware of.
Esmail said: “We understand it is a big challenge for us to play in these two very important tournaments. But we trust Mahdi will get us really ready for both of them.
“There is some more pressure, as we are defending our title.
“Mahdi works on our mentality, knowing ourselves that we are champions and everyone is looking to beat us and play better than us. He works on that side, in particular, and our morale and psychology, to be ready to defend our title.”
The impending double-header will be their last run out before the competitive action begins in Riyadh against Oman on November 14.
Hard yards have already gone into the Whites’ legs, however, with their trio of previous run outs.
Esmail took positives from the fact that the UAE emerged from that school of hard knocks against physically-imposing opposition without a loss to their name.
He said: “These were tough teams, all three of them. Each was very strong. I thought we did really well. We learned a lot.
“As a youth team, we have played opposition from around the world.
“The main difference is in the strength, stamina and stronger build when compared to Asian teams. But, in modern football we do not see much difference.
“We are close to each other in terms of those points.”
