Mahdi Ali optimistic of putting up 'a good show'


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DUBAI //Mahdi Ali, the UAE Olympic team coach, is hoping for the quick recovery of some of his key players before he assembles his squad ahead of their 2012 Olympic preliminary round qualifier against Sri Lanka next month.

Mohammed Fawzi and Theyab Awana, who missed the senior team's Asian Cup campaign last month due to injuries, are in Qatar for treatment, while Amer Abdulrahman, Sultan Bargash, Mohammed Kamal, Rashid Issa and Habbush Saleh are also on the injury list.

To add to the coach's concerns, many of his players are not getting enough playing time with their clubs.

Ali must select a squad of players under the age of 23, plus up to three over-age players for the fixture. The Olympic team will assemble for a training camp on March 1 before taking on Sri Lanka on March 8 and 12.

"Sometimes circumstances dictate an entirely different reality to our ambitions," Ali said of the selection process.

"But we have to adapt to every situation because the fans have become accustomed to seeing this team do well, in every competition that we go to, whatever the circumstances and challenges.

"We are already hampered by a number of issues, including the injuries to a number of players and absence of other players from their club's starting line-ups in the league."

"We will also have a few issues with scheduling. Al Jazira will be playing an AFC [Asian] Champions League match on March 1 and Al Wahda on the following day, which means players from these clubs might miss the first three days of training.

"So we will be left with just three days to prepare the team before the first match.

"We will try our best to get the team in shape and put up a good show."

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Also on December 7 to 9, the third edition of the Gulf Car Festival (www.gulfcarfestival.com) will take over Dubai Festival City Mall, a new venue for the event. Last year's festival brought together about 900 cars worth more than Dh300 million from across the Emirates and wider Gulf region – and that first figure is set to swell by several hundred this time around, with between 1,000 and 1,200 cars expected. The first day is themed around American muscle; the second centres on supercars, exotics, European cars and classics; and the final day will major in JDM (Japanese domestic market) cars, tuned vehicles and trucks. Individuals and car clubs can register their vehicles, although the festival isn’t all static displays, with stunt drifting, a rev battle, car pulls and a burnout competition.

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