Omar Abdulrahman is a doubt for the two upcoming international friendlies as the Al Ain star has flown to Spain for tests on a knee injury.
Abdulrahman did not take part in Al Ain's 4-3 loss at Al Jazira on Sunday night in the AGL, and coach Zlatko Dalic said he was forced to rest his playmaker because of the knee injury he received in the second leg of their Asian Champions League semi-final against Al Hilal.
Abdulrahman, 23, has already had two major surgeries, and Dalic said he did not want to take any chances.
Abdulrahman flew to Spain yesterday and is expected to be back in a couple of days. Dalic is hoping his player will be able to rest for seven to 10 days. That would mean he will miss UAE’s matches against Australia on Friday and Uzbekistan on October 14. Abdulrahman’s name does feature in the list of 24 players Mahdi Ali has picked for the two matches.
Al Wasl’s Saeed Al Kathiri is making a return to the team after his impressive performance in the Asian Games, where he struck four goals. Al Nasr’s Tariq Ahmed has also received a call-up, and Hamdan Al Kamali is back after missing the past three friendlies.
Rashid Essa returns after injuries sidelined him the past few years. New Al Ahli defender Eisa Ahmed has failed to keep his place, along with the Sharjah duo of Ahmed Khamis and Shahin Abdulrahman.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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