Anxious Ismail Matar anticipates speedy return to UAE national team

Recovering from a knee injury, Ismail Matar wants to join his UAE teammates at Austria sooner rather than later. Courtesy UAE FA

As his teammates continue to train in the Austrian rain, sidelined UAE captain Ismail Matar is itching to join them on the pitch.

Matar, 31, has been receiving intensive treatment in Munich, Germany, with the aim of achieving a full recovery before he begins the journey back to fitness with the hope that he will be involved in the Gulf Cup in Saudi Arabia in November and next year’s Asian Cup in ­Australia.

He has joined the squad but is not ready to train.

“I have reached an advanced stage in recovery after seeing three specialists for my injured left knee,” Matar told the Football Association’s website.

“They all agreed that the best course of action was treatment through injections without resorting to surgery.”

The injury is the same type the Al Wahda striker suffered four years ago.

“Surgery would have left me on the sidelines for a long period, unlike the present treatment, which requires only four weeks of rest before I can get back to full training,” he said.

"I've already spent half of that, so I should be OK for the start of the Arabian Gulf League."

Matar said that returning to the UAE squad is a major challenge, but that Mahdi Ali’s total faith in him as a player and leader has been a major boost to his morale.

He also said that, so far, the training camp in Austria has been ideal and familiar as many of the squad and technical staff spent time there before the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

“The atmosphere at national training camps is always amazing thanks to the bond between all the squad members,” the captain said.

“The players are keen to fully benefit from the training programme put together by our technical team for the hectic period ahead.”

With the Gulf Cup around the corner, Matar said the friendly matches that the team are playing will be treated as full competitive fixtures by all involved.

“The Gulf Cup will be very competitive and thrilling, as all seven teams have qualified to the 2015 Asian Cup,” he said.

On the UAE’s group, which also has Iraq, Kuwait and Oman, he said: “You cannot worry about your opponents, only your own preparation.

“Without a doubt, we stand a very good chance of winning the tournament, especially as we deservedly won the last one, winning all our group matches, the semi-final and the final against Iraq.”

The UAE’s excellent results since that Bahrain triumph and the steady climb up the Fifa rankings to 65 have, Matar said, left the other teams looking at them in a different light to last year, when the youthful squad was not expected to win.

Looking a few months ahead, Matar has echoed the views of FA president Yousef Al Serkal and coach Mahdi Ali that the nation’s ambition is to reach the last four at Australia in January next year.

After five wins and a draw in the qualifying campaign, standards and targets have been raised.

Matar is also hoping to break his Asian Cup duck, having failed to score in three previous participations in China 2004, Vietnam 2007 and Qatar 2011.

“Everyone must double their efforts,” Matar said. “The group stage will be no walkover with Bahrain, Qatar and Iran, teams we have played many times in fierce and exciting matches.”

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UAE POSITIVE THEY WILL GET A GOOD RESULT AGAINST LITHUANIA

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Buoyed by their dogged performance against Norway on Wednesday, the UAE are confident of stepping up their efforts against Lithuania in Wednesday's friendly and getting a positive result.

While missing their midfield star, Omar Abdulrahman, and five of his Al Ain teammates, the UAE held Norway, No 53 in the Fifa rankings, to a goalless draw in front of their home fans.

Lithuania are a modest No 103 in the world rankings, 48 places below the UAE, and the Emirates will be looking to keep their impressive streak under Mahdi Ali going.

The UAE have lost just two of their 24 matches since Mahdi Ali took over the reins of the senior national team in September 2012, and were unbeaten in 20 matches until their 4-3 loss to Armenia in May.

“We were missing a number of key elements for the match against Norway, so we certainly expect a better show in the next match,” Mahdi Ali said. “Having said that, those absences allowed us to give an opportunity to a number of players and their performance against Norway was a big gain.”

The coach was particularly impressed with the performance of Amer Abdulrahman, who is returning from a 10-month injury lay-off, and striker Ahmed Ali, who is making his first appearance for the UAE since the 2012 London Olympics.

“Ahmed and Amer are important players in the squad, and so we are delighted to have them back,” Mahdi Ali said. “Both have been excellent in the two matches [a practice game against Italian club Udinese and the Norway friendly] we have played.”

The UAE are preparing in Austria for a busy winter ahead when they go to Saudi Arabia to defend their Gulf Cup crown in November and then travel to Australia in January for the Asian Cup, hoping to improve on their 1996 performance, when they lost in the final to the Saudis.

-- Ahmed Rizvi ([e-mail])

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