DUBAI // Hamdan Al Kamali has challenged Al Wahda teammate Mohammed Al Akberi to eventually outshine UAE stars Ali Mabkhout and Ahmed Khalil.
Al Akberi, 20, enjoyed a stellar 2015/16 Arabian Gulf League season in which he featured 24 times for Wahda to help the club finish third. He was rewarded for his performances last month when he was named the division's young player of the year.
Al Akberi was then called up to the UAE's experimental squad for the King's Cup, starting in last Friday's defeat to Jordan. It is hoped the forward can graduate to the first-team set-up, with the third and final qualification stage for the 2018 Word Cup beginning in September. To this point, Al Akberi has made four senior appearances, scoring one goal.
Al Kamali, himself seeking a recall to the UAE first team, said Al Akberi needs to build on his recent fine form, citing the example of club colleague Ahmed Rashid, who won the AGL young player of the year 12 months previously and then struggled somewhat at Wahda.
“Mohammed Al Akberi has been selected as the best young player in the UAE; now he must be thinking he can become the best player in the UAE, like [Omar Abdulrahman] and Ali Mabkhout,” Al Kamali said. “This was hard for him to become the best young player.
“Last year, Ahmed Rashid won the award, but this year he has not played with Al Wahda. It is the same situation for Al Akberi.
“You must think always to be a good player in the national team and to play in the national team, not just to be on the bench. He is the future of the UAE and future of our club, also.
“He is a good player and he must be thinking to be better than Ali Mabkhout and Ahmed Khalil, not to just only think about going to national team. He must aim higher.”
Al Kamali says Al Akberi is one of a number of Wahda youngsters with the potential to earn promotion to the main UAE squad. Mahdi Ali included five from the capital club for the King’s Cup, with defender Salem Sultan and midfielder Khalid Bawazir appearing in both matches against Jordan and Syria.
“It is not just Al Akberi at Al Wahda, we have other good young players like Khalid Bawazir and Ahmed Rashid,” Al Kamali said. “Hopefully, they prove this with the national team.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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