We are in a new place with Omar Abdulrahman.
He is not just a showman, he is not just a playmaker.
He is the boss.
Mahdi Ali runs the UAE national team 99.9 per cent of the time. But for 90-minute intervals on the pitch, the team belongs to the frail little guy with the big hair.
He is simultaneously genius and generalissimo. This maturing Omar creates and he commands. His leadership has shifted from the indirect to the overt.
From “leading by example” to “this is how it is going to be”.
In world sport, that does not always happen. Often, the footballer with the greatest gifts is allowed to drift in and out of play, to loiter around midfield waiting for play to wash back in his direction, only then rejoining the action – teammates do the dirty work.
Omar, though, has turned into a work-rate monster. He was never lazy but, until this Gulf Cup of Nations, we did not see him deep in his own end, again and again, defending, winning the ball, turning, organising, propelling the action forward through his speed and force of personality.
The effort he makes, along with his undeniable talents, gives him a position of moral authority, on the pitch.
“I am the best player here and I also am the hardest worker.”
It does not need to be said, his teammates know it and we see it.
Before each half, the team gather in a circle and the final words of encouragement come not from the titular captain, Ali Kasheif, but from Omar.
Still only 23 and usually the youngest in the first XI, he almost certainly does not say “try to keep up with me” but that is the message that comes through.
It is not about arrogance or exasperation, it is about collaboration – more like, “help me help you win”.
It seems his teammates are aware they can disappoint their best player. This happens in all team sports. Many very good players lack the one-in-a-million vision and instincts of the greats.
With Omar, the inability of teammates to keep up most often can be seen when an attack breaks down – a pass behind, instead of ahead, and Omar heaves a deep sigh.
A failure to anticipate the space in front of goal, a ball rolled into nothingness, and Omar turns and maybe makes a slight shake of the head – “how could he not see that”?
His partner in Saudi Arabia has been Ali Mabkhout, who has been the required finisher to Omar’s creator. Two goals against Kuwait, two more against Iraq, each of them of quality.
Omar clearly was the best player when the UAE won the Gulf Cup 22 months ago, in Bahrain, and he is better now. He plays harder, he works harder and more efficiently, even as opponents run more defenders at him.
In top form just three matches after a month’s lay-off, he has lifted this Emirati team to what could be a wonderful semi-final, against Saudi Arabia, in Riyadh, before what ought to be 60,000 fans.
If the UAE can win in that environment, with Omar doing what he does, it could take him to a place where the air is thin and peers are few.
poberjuerge@thenational.ae
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