The team is capable of reaching the semi-finals of the Arab Cup

The star of the national team and the Al-Wasl team, Fabio Lima, confirmed that “Al-Abyad” is capable of reaching the semi-finals in the 2025 Arab Cup tournament, which began yesterday in the Qatari capital, Doha, and extends until December 18, while “Al-Abyad” competes in the third group, which includes the teams of Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait.

Lima told Emirates Al-Youm: “I support my teammates in the national team, and I am confident that (Al-Abyad) is capable of going far in these competitions and reaching the semi-finals.”

He explained that “the team has a good set of elements that qualify it to go far in the Arab Cup, which is contingent on skipping the kick-off in the group stage against the Jordanian team.”

He added: “I tried hard to join the national team, but I was not successful due to the treatment period, and I believe that despite the strength of the teams in the UAE group, whether Jordan, Egypt or Kuwait, (Al-Abyad) has every chance of going far in the final rounds.”

It is noteworthy that Fabio Lima missed the national team’s two matches against Iraq, last month, in the Asian playoff qualifier for the World Cup finals due to a connective muscle injury, as a result of which – according to what Al-Wasl Club previously announced – he needed four to six weeks of rest, and despite his return to the stadiums, the technical staff led by Romanian coach Olario Cosmin did not call him up to the roster participating in the Arab Cup.

Regarding Al-Wasl’s season and exit from the cup competitions, Lima said: “The past month was tough for Al-Wasl, with their exit from the cup competitions in a dramatic manner, and we as players must bear the responsibility to make more efforts, to correct the mistakes that accompanied us in the last period, towards saving the remainder of the season.”

He continued: “The club’s management is doing its job in the best possible way to provide all the requirements for success. Two years ago, Al-Wasl had a distinguished group of players who succeeded in achieving the aspirations of the club’s fans, and our last match the day before yesterday with Al-Jazira, and our farewell from the semi-finals of the Professional League Cup (Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Cup), highlights the problems we suffer from in the team, most notably our lack of focus in investing in the opportunities available to score, in addition to receiving goals at sensitive times that are difficult to compensate for.”

He concluded: “Changing the technical staff and dealing with the types of coaches are among the natural situations in football, which players must deal with, and from here comes the importance of continuing to work in training towards correcting the deficiencies, including the physical aspect, in order to ensure the delivery of the required performance, whether in the league championship, in which we are not far behind (5 points) from the leader Al Ain, or in the Asian Championship (second level), in which we qualified for the round of 16.”

Fabio Lima:

• I tried hard to join the national team, but I was unsuccessful due to the treatment period.

• I support my teammates in the national team, and I am confident that “White” is capable of going far.