The first pages of a vital chapter in UAE football history are set to be written in the next three weeks.
– #Quiz360: WIN dinner for 2 at Media Rotana, Dubai
Succeed at the Asian Cup and the path to World Cup 2018 qualification appears wide open.
This journey has seemed preordained; a talented group of players maturing through the various age groups alongside coach Mahdi Ali up to the point where the nation can hope to compete with the globe’s finest for the first time since featuring at Italia ‘90.
But an underwhelming 2014 has seen the onus shifted back onto coach Ali to prove he is the man to continue this quest, the lack of a new contract providing extra personal importance for the impending tournament in Australia.
Such has been the rapid rate of development previously enjoyed under the 49-year-old former UAE midfielder’s tutelage – from his time with the Under-23s at the London 2012 Olympics to his successful integration with the seniors – this situation has previously existed unquestioned.
The highs of the Gulf Cup triumph in 2013 and the surge through Asian Cup qualification made it look unstoppable, the narrative of glory secure.
Cracks, however slight, started to emerge last year.
A step up in class of opponent since the end of the 2013-14 domestic season saw two friendly defeats to Armenia and
Uzbekistan, four dour draws against Norway, Lithuania, Paraguay and Australia, plus a solitary, barely-deserved triumph against Georgia.
Subsequently, a fitful Gulf Cup defence in November, which ended at the semi-final stage against hosts Saudi Arabia, has not helped. A new contract first stated as being close to finalised last summer, which would extend his stay beyond June 2015 until 2019, remains unsigned.
Further intrigue has been provided by the fact Ali spoke so confidently at last month’s squad announcement that a contract
extension would be confirmed prior to travelling Down Under.
This talk has proved hollow with UAE Football Association president Yousif Al Serkal last Sunday being forced to rally against the notion that doubts have crept into the governing body’s thoughts regarding their coach.
Reports, which have since been rejected, state the prospect of a new board being elected in 2016 is behind the reticence.
Why lumber them with a man they might not want? Judging by Al Serkal’s words, this scenario bares no relation to fact.
But what is clear is that the Whites are on a clearly-defined drive to raise standards ahead of the World Cup in 2018.
The rise to being the fifth-highest ranked Asian nation by FIFA is only the start, not the end, for a team and federation energised by a burning ambition to crown their massive improvement with a return to world football’s premier competition.
Friendly opponents are now largely drawn from Europe and South America, a glamour clash with Luis Suarez’s Uruguay to come in March.
When the first stage of the newly combined qualifiers for the World Cup and the 2019 Asian Cup get under way in the summer, the UAE are expected to set the pace rather than chase.
These are not fanciful demands or pie-in-the-sky thoughts.
There is a genuine class and depth to Ali’s squad with talents such as Al Ain playmaker Omar Adulrahman and Al Jazira hot shot Ali Mabkhout among the finest on the continent.
Prior to Ali’s confirmation two years ago, Emiratis had last been regularly trusted with the permanent national manager’s post in the mid-1970s.
A poor Asian Cup campaign could see the return of the thought that big-name foreigners know best, an eminently possible
scenario given a tough Group C containing World Cup 2014 finalists Iraq, Gulf Cup holders Qatar and Bahrain.
Yet, to soar in spite of this draw and Ali looks immovable. Slump, and the insatiable desire for progress could leave him behind.
