Emirates is a winter home for many European football teams

Winfried Schafer says his first memories of the UAE are not from coaching Al Ahli or Al Ain but from when German football teams he played for would spend their winter break in the Emirates to take advantage of the weather. Amy Leang / The National

Winfried Schafer, the German who coached local clubs Al Ahli and Al Ain, notes that the direction of the flow of football teams between the UAE and Europe reverses in the winter, making for a mutually beneficial situation.

Schafer was asked about the phenomenon of Arabian Gulf League clubs trekking to Europe, but he had an alternative view of the question.

“Emirati clubs have a long tradition of going to Europe for their annual training camps, but the first thing that comes to my mind is not my trips with Al Ahli and Al Ain to Europe, but my first training camp in Dubai with a German team. It was more than 20 years ago, when Dubai was not such a big, dazzling metropolis,” he said.

“While clubs from the UAE have been training in Europe since a few years, European clubs have been coming to the UAE for more than 20 years.

“If you ask the managers of these clubs why they choose the Emirates, they will tell you about the opportunity to promote themselves in the Arabian and Asian market. They will tell you about the nice weather conditions here in the winter, the excellent pitches and training facilities. But, of course, that is just half the truth.

“The most important thing for all of them is the fact that they enjoy coming to the Emirates; that it is a lovely, beautiful, friendly and welcoming place.

“For us Europeans, especially for us busy, stressed football players, the Emirates is like a wonderful, sunny, exotic fairy tale.

“This is a fact nobody can deny.

“A training camp should be as comfortable and pleasant as possible, because that puts you in the right mindset to work hard and recover, to focus on your work and, for that, the Emirates is the best place to be in.

“I hope the UAE clubs will find the same thing in Europe – a warm welcome and an atmosphere the players and officials can enjoy. That is, as I said, essential for a good training camp.”

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