UAE’s top 25 greatest football players ranked: Part 2

Omar Al Raisi explains the second part of his rankings for his most influential and talented players to represent the UAE.

UAE goalkeeper Majed Naser, who has played for Al Wasl and Al Ahli, during a training session ahead of the 2015 Asian Cup. Courtesy UAE FA

Second of a three-part series.

How to assemble a list of the country’s 25 greatest footballers?

From personal observation, over the past two decades.

To evaluate those who played before the middle 1990s, I examined as much information as I could find. I also spoke with relatives and older friends who followed UAE football in the past and still do.

I also took opinions from other Emirati football fans, to see how players impressed them.

The main factor in choosing these 25 was how “influential” each player was to club and country, but also taking into account raw talent and individual achievements.

16 Majed Naser

If not for his history of disciplinary actions, he would be considered by many the greatest Emirati goalkeeper. With lightning-quick reflexes, an ability to glide effortlessly in the air to stop a powerful shot and a physical presence in the box, he became the most recognisable goalkeeper in the league and undoubtedly the best of this generation. But he also has slapped a rival coach, thrown stones at a referee and butted an opponent during a Gulf Clubs Cup championship game. He has been suspended for 36 games in his career and paid fines in excess of Dh60,000. The former Al Wasl man moved to Al Ahli in 2012. At age 31, he has represented the national team 69 times and might be No 1 now if not for his reputation. He was and is still the best active goalkeeper in the UAE, hands down. He is the flawed genius of UAE football.

15 Ahmed Khalil

A bruising, athletic striker, the spearhead for Mahdi Ali’s new-model UAE side, capable of brushing aside the attentions of defenders to wreak havoc himself and bring others into play, a bit like Didier Drogba. He is one of the few players to play for three levels of the national team at once (Under 20, U23, senior) and was picked in the U20 team when he was 15. He was named Asia’s Young Footballer of the Year in 2008, won the U17 Gulf Cup and took the U20 team to the quarter-finals in the 2009 Fifa U20 World Cup by scoring twice. He has appeared 72 times for the senior national team, scoring 35 goals, and is still only 24. He represents a curious case: in any given game he is either at his devastating best or at his worst. There are no shades of grey with Khalil.

14 Ali Thani Jumaa

The all-action piston at the heart of the country’s 1990 World Cup games, he redefined what it meant to be a modern midfield player. A player with the character and class to inspire his teammates to greater heights. Two-and-a-half decades on from his World Cup days, the country has never come close to replacing him. He is best-remembered for his performances at the 1990 World Cup. He scored a header against Yugoslavia and went toe-to-toe with the great Carlos Valderrama of Colombia. Ali Thani played for Sharjah for 10 seasons from 1988 to 1998.

13 Faisal Khalil

A prototype penalty-box predator whose relentless pursuit of goals made him a fine spearhead for Al Ahli and his country. A fan favourite, and elder brother of Ahmed Khalil, Faisal scored 110 goals in only 208 appearances for Ahli and 15 international goals in 67 appearances. He played on Ahli teams who won two league titles and three President’s Cups, as well as the national side who captured the 2007 Gulf Cup of Nations. He ranks among the elite strikers in the country’s history. Perhaps his legal and contractual battles with Ahli management and his decision to retire at the age of 30 takes away a bit of gloss, but his achievements on the pitch as a scorer cannot be taken from him.

12 Helal Saeed

Durable, relentless and a visionary. These three words are enough to describe and do justice to the veteran midfield dynamo, Helal Saeed. One of the most-decorated players in the league’s history, he came up through Al Ain’s youth academy and spent 11 seasons with the club. He won six league titles, three President’s Cups and, the big one, the 2003 Asian Champions League. He played for the 2007 national team who won the Gulf Cup, and the Al Jazira side who won a league and President’s Cup double in 2011. He returned to Al Ain for the 2011/12 season. He covers 12.5 kilometres per match and, by comparison, an average English Premier League midfielder covers 11.5. Al Ain will miss his vision and composure in midfield once he hangs up his boots. Only Amer Abdulrahman is worthy of replacing him.

11 Mohammed Omar

The younger brother of the great Zuhair Bakheet. On his day, Mohammed was unplayable and ranks as one of the top three greatest strikers to wear the UAE shirt. He holds the distinction of having played for seven clubs in the league, scoring for all seven of them. His finest times were at Al Wasl and Al Ain, where he won four league titles, the UAE Super Cup and the Asain Champions League, with Al Ain, in 2003. He represented the national team 102 times, scoring 28 goals.

10 Hamdan Al Kamali

Putting aside the fact that he never played for their first team, Al Kamali became the first Emirati, in 2012, to be on the books of a top European club, Lyon of France, to whom he was loaned by Al Wahda for the second half of the 2011/12 season. It was a move that led other footballers in the country to believe it is possible for an Emirati to take a leap into European football. He was the undisputed sergeant-major in Mahdi Ali’s Olympic team. His ability to organise and inspire is clear to see. He is formidable in the air, tenacious in the tackle and an astute reader of the game. At 26, his game has been dulled by injury and, perhaps, disinterest, and he no longer is an automatic call-up for the national team. It is not too late for him to contribute more.

9 Subait Khater

At Al Ain, he was a box-to-box midfield leader on a Gulf Cup champions team, a key member of an Asian Champions League-winning squad and a regular in a side that claimed six league championships and six President’s Cups, as well as two UAE Super Cups and Etisalat Cup. At his peak, his lung-bursting surges into the penalty area – arriving late to escape the attention of unwary defenders – were exhilarating to behold. He joined Al Ain’s youth set-up in 1990 and made his way to the first team in 1997, playing 203 times for the club before moving on to Al Jazira in 2008, where he played on a team that won a league and President’s Cup double in 2011. He represented the national team 120 times, placing him second on the all-time list.