Sport

Hamdan al Kamali knows Wahda have a tough task ahead

The Al Wahda defender admits title chances in the Pro League are thin from their current seventh spot on the table.

Amith Passela
Amith Passela

January 27, 2011

Hamdan al Kamali, the Al Wahda defender, has admitted that his team face a tough task if they are to retain their Pro League title.

The Abu Dhabi club are in seventh place in the league, 14 points behind their city rivals Al Jazira, the leaders, but have a match in hand.

"We are not in a good position but there are 33 points to play for and all the teams will start fresh when the league resumes after a break of more than a month," said al Kamali, who watched from the stands as his team were beaten 2-1 by Al Ahli of Qatar in a friendly match at the Al Nahyan stadium last night.

The 21-year-old is keen to get back into domestic action after a busy two months away from the Pro League.

He was a member of the UAE's silver medal-winning team at the Asian Games in China in November, played in the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi in December and then travelled with the senior national team that finished bottom of their group in the Asian Cup in Qatar.

The league was suspended to give the national team and Wahda players enough time to prepare from those competitions and play resumes from February 3 with a two-match card in which Dubai play Al Ain and Al Nasr take on Jazira.

And despite their points deficit, al Kamali believes Wahda still have an outside chance of catching up with the leaders.

"We will know our position after the first three matches in the second round," al Kamali said.

"We must win all three games and hope for some results in the other games that would favour us. In football it is possible.

"I am not looking for excuses for the poor results we have had against some teams, but the truth is that we were more focused on the Club World Cup in the first half of the season.

"And after three hard matches in one week, we had to play two league games in four days."

Wahda will be looking to avenge their away defeat to Al Wasl when they entertain the Dubai club on February 4.

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