Mahdi the reason for UAE's recent success, insists Matar
UAE captain Ismail Matar has hailed his manager Mahdi Ali’s influence as being a reason for their astonishing surge in form over the past 18 months.
The Whites had a poor 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, but impressed at the London 2012 Olympics, won January’s Gulf Cup of Nations, lifted the OSN Cup in Saudi Arabia and recently sealed Asian Cup qualification with two games to spare.
They are currently on a 17-game unbeaten run which started at Mahdi’s second game in charge and Matar is in no doubt where the credit should go.
The Al Wahda playmaker said: “Mahdi Ali had a major role to play in us reaching our good form, together with the team, and we will also strive to always improve in the future.”
The UAE were unable to win five of their six games in the third round of AFC World Cup qualification, but haven’t lost since they were defeated by Japan in September 2012.
And Matar feels they have won the respect of their rivals.
“The national team has improved a lot over the last year,” he added. “The UAE players have noticed that we are respected by most of the teams we play now and we can feel this when we play them.
“This is a good sign for us and it makes us happy.”
* For breaking news, follow us on @Sport_360 or find us on Facebook.
Related Content
