Emirati football is approaching a team similar to the combination of Mahdi Ali

The coach of the national junior team, Majid Salem Al Zaabi (55 years old), expressed his ambition for the “Little White” to succeed in reaching advanced stages in the World Junior Cup, which will be held in Qatar on the third of next November with the participation of 48 teams from around the world, stressing his optimism in providing distinguished levels, stressing that Emirati football is on the verge of building a strong team that is somewhat similar to the team of coach Mahdi Ali, according to His expression.

Al Zaabi told Emirates Today: “We will play in order to represent Emirati football in the best way, so that we impose our personality in a distinctive way based on the family spirit that unites the team members, especially since most of the players have been playing together for more than approximately two years, and the team is capable of achieving the ambition.”

Regarding the national team’s group in the World Cup, during which it will play its first match against Costa Rica on the third of next November, then Croatia and Senegal, coach Al Zaabi said: “This group is one of the most difficult groups in the World Cup, but we will be ready for these matches, so that we are up to the challenge. We were accustomed to playing difficult matches previously, especially since we qualified for the World Cup from a much more difficult group that included Japan, Australia and Vietnam, during which we provided a distinguished technical performance,” stressing that the current team has ambition and is not afraid of any team it faces, and confidence in it is high.

Coach Al Zaabi revealed that “the current lineup of players could be a rich source of support for the first national team in the future, as it includes talented players with a sports mentality and a strong personality on and off the field.”

He continued: “I did not find much suffering in selecting the players and arriving at the current squad, for several reasons, including that we have an integrated training staff from all sides that is widely aware of its tasks to contribute to the selection of players. In addition, the choices were not instantaneous, but rather came after numerous follow-ups of the players and matches and high evaluations, coinciding with the availability of talented players.”

The junior national team coach confirmed that he feels very optimistic that Emirati football is on the verge of building a strong team, “somewhat similar to the team of coach Mahdi Ali,” with whom he played in the Asian Youth Championship and won its title in 2008, and participated in the World Youth Cup in Egypt in 2009, and later the London Olympics, and achieved many achievements.

Coach Al Zaabi confirmed that “the current squad includes prominently distinguished players who can play in European clubs within their age group at the present time, and they are also capable of developing further as they continue to work on developing themselves. Among them are: Mayed Adel, Ibrahim Youssef, Abdullah Rashid, and Muhammad Butti, indicating that scouts in Europe expressed their admiration for these players and others during the matches he played.” The junior team in friendly tournaments and training gatherings.

Majid Al Zaabi said: “We worked on several goals during the period of preparing and building the current team, in addition to participating in tournaments and strong competition, including that the current junior team be the nucleus of the first national team in the future, through sustainable, not temporary, foundational work. During approximately two and a half years, we played about 43 international matches with various clubs and countries around the world, and the basis for selecting players was technical and mental quality, amid great support. Very much from the Football Association and most clubs. Our ambition is to reach advanced stages in the World Cup and in the future.”

He concluded: “The development of the youth sector over the past years helped a lot in building the current national team through scouting talented players,” stressing that his choices were in accordance with international standards in selecting players, including that the player possess a football mentality, enjoy high ambition and passion, and the desire to become a distinguished and talented player, in addition to his technical and physical level.

• The junior national team includes players capable of playing in European clubs.

• The current squad will be a rich source of support for the first national team in the future.