Mahdi Ali has watched UAE’s band of brothers evolve over last decade

More than a dozen players have been under the guidance of the Emirati coach since 2004 and the chemistry has become evident at the Asian Cup, writes Ali Khaled.

UAE coach Mahdi Ali, right, has watched many of his players grow up over the years as their bond has gotten even stronger. Courtesy UAE FA

The notion of “family” often is promoted in domestic club football and is meant to suggest a unity of purpose – often more wished for than genuine.

To watch the senior national team train is to see what a band of brothers really looks like. Their body language, banter and smiles are evidence of a strong bond among players, many of whom have played together for their country since they were teenagers.

At the Asian Cup on Sunday, that harmony was transferred into a brutally efficient performance against Gulf Cup of Nations champions Qatar. They surged back from an early deficit to rout the Qataris 4-1, establishing UAE highs for goals scored in an Asian Cup match and for greatest margin of victory.

Fifteen of the 23-man side are ages 23, 24 or 25 and, despite their relative youth, are veteran international campaigners, going back to an Asian Football Confederation Under 19 championship in Saudi Arabia in 2008.

“We have to work harder now because we are in a good position,” their coach, Mahdi Ali said. “Maybe the first game is more stressful for the players, so this will give us more motivation.”

Getting the players enthused for matches hardly seems a problem for him.

“Team spirit is an illusion glimpsed in the aftermath of victory,” former Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona forward Steve Archibald once said.

It is a cynical, ungenerous assessment. The bond within this squad seems so much more, a quality nurtured in the players over time in the same way that tactics, fitness and strength have been.

It is not really a surprise when you consider how long this squad have been together. Few managers could know their players as well as does Mahdi Ali, and their relationship started long before he took over the duties as coach of the senior national team in 2012.

He nurtures camaraderie but also is a keen observer of it, given that he is separated from the players by age and job description. I have in this group around 16 players that I’ve worked with since 2004,” he said of his decade working with the team’s core as they advanced through age-group competitions.

“At the time I was an assistant coach and then, since 2008, I’ve worked with them as head coach.

“We’ve grown together, we help each other, we understand each other. This helps me do my job. I know it is more difficult for me because I always have to look for new things so they don’t get bored.”

That is unlikely to happen, especially if the results continue to come as they have in the past three years, including a berth in the 2012 London Olympics and a 20-match unbeaten streak that spanned nearly all of 2013.

Omar Abdulrahman and Ali Mabkhout, two of the most important players in the squad, are particularly close.

“I have a strong relationship with everyone; it’s very brotherly,” Mabkhout said. “But Omar is close to me off the pitch and we took that relationship onto the pitch so we understand each other in a big way.”

The coach sees similar rapport throughout the squad.

“I believe the relationship between any two players is good,” he said. “Having experienced a long time with this group, I can say that it’s not just the relationship between Ali and Omar but between all the players.

“Such camaraderie has a big effect on any team during a tournament. Team spirit is necessary and that is essential in any team that has ambitions to progress. I hope this relationship continues because they have been together for a long time.”

The coach’s mantra that “there are no reserves in this group” is more than just words of encouragement or appeasement for those not in the first 11. One example is central defender Hamdan Al Kamali, out of the side for so long but straight back into the starting line-up against Qatar.

Whoever is chosen for the mission against Bahrain tomorrow, the rest of the squad will be united behind them.

“I’ve been with this group for a long time,” Mahdi Ali said. “We always try to do our best. Whether it’s an official match, a friendly or even normal practice, we try to have fun.”

UAE fans likely would agree they are succeeding.

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