Ismail Matar reunites with UAE senior squad

Matar had surprisingly skipped the previous external training camp amid strong speculations that his international career was over.

Ismail Matar

UAE football ace Ismail Matar is back on the shortlist of the UAE head coach Mahdi Ali in preparation for the upcoming commitments, it was revealed on Sunday.

Matar had surprisingly skipped the previous external training camp amid strong speculations that his international career was over. Matar declined to comment on the move, but he was later quoted as saying he’s still capable of delivering after scoring a double with his club Al Wahda in an Arabian Gulf League encounter.

It was also believed that the head coach Mahdi Ali will never take the risk of sacrificing the efforts of a big name in the magnitude of the 31-year old veteran to avoid any criticism in case of failure to retain his Gulf Cup title or poor performance in the AFC Asian Cup.

The shortlist also sees the return of Bani Yas forward Ahmed Ali who has played the major part in the strong appearance of the UAE in the 2009 Fifa U-20 World Cup in Egypt. Brilliant midfielder Amir Abdul Rahman is back on course, but ’keeper Majid Nasser is still recovering from injury. Otherwise, there are no prominent absentees or debutants.

Meanwhile, the UAE national teams’ committee has approved the 26-player squad which has been submitted by Ali for the external training session from August 13 to September 8 in Europe.

The players meet on Wednesday August 13 in Austria where they are expected to play three friendlies against Norway on August 27 in Oslo, Lithuania on September 3, and Paraguay five days later. Both matches will be played in Austria. The players will gather in Vienna from their current European tours with their respective clubs provided that Al Ain players will reunite with the squad on August 28 after their AFC Champions League commitments.

The UAE lads are preparing for the 22^nd Gulf Cup (Khaliji 22) in Riyadh from November 13 to 26 and the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 from January 9 to 31, 2015.