UAE remain anxious as Omar Abdulrahman and Ismail Matar watch from sidelines

Abdulrahman was the tournament MVP at last year’s Gulf Cup. His contribution in Saudi Arabia next month likely will be integral to UAE chances, writes John McAuley.

UAE’s Omar Abdulrahman, left, and Ismail Matar are considered the team’s top players and have been hampered by injuries. Mohammed Dabbous / Reuters

Such is the concern regarding Omar Abdulrahman’s latest injury that the UAE national team’s fulcrum felt obliged to take to social media on Saturday to allay fears.

Two weeks was the prognosis – spent for the large part recuperating in Spain – while his country laboured against Australia and Uzbekistan.

The Al Ain playmaker has been nursing a “muscle strain” and was sorely missed in the double-header, in which the UAE failed to score.

With the Gulf Cup of Nations four weeks away, the reigning champions seemed anxious.

Abdulrahman was the tournament MVP at last year’s Gulf Cup. His contribution in Saudi Arabia next month likely will be integral to UAE chances.

Al Ain have a large stake in Abdulrahman, too, and earlier this month urged the national team to omit him from their recent squad.

“He is a big player and he must be ready, but it is better for him to rest and not play only half ready,” said Zlatko Dalic, the Al Ain coach.

“If he rests he will be ready for both the national team and for Al Ain.”

Abdulrahman, 23, has missed 18 months of matches in his career because of two major operations on his knee.

His absences suggest it is unwise to push him too hard.

Ismail Matar, considered the country’s best player until Abdulrahman, also is struggling to regain his fitness.

The Al Wahda striker remains one of the UAE’s most influential players, an experienced contributor to their recent success. Like Abdulrahman, he excelled at the 2013 Gulf Cup.

But Matar has yet to play this season, hampered by a persistent knee injury that once needed surgery and for the past year has required injections to reduce the pain.

Wahda officials say he is training alone, working on his fitness, and will return only when 100 per cent healthy. The UAE will hope his rehabilitation is complete within a month.

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