ABU DHABI // The UAE's under-17 footballers, winners this week of a regional youth tournament, were honoured for their achievements yesterday evening by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. The 24-man squad was received at Sheikh Mohammed's palace for iftar and conversation with officials from the UAE Football Association about the victory over Saudi Arabia after a penalty shoot-out in Al Ain on Monday in the GCC Under-17 Football Championship. They also discussed their training and preparations in Al Ain for the AFC Asian Cup.
Karim Malouche, the team's Romanian fitness coach, attributed their success to an improvement in the players' fitness during a month of training in Hungary. "We spent a month in Telki, Hungary, and then we played in Jordan, where we won a game against the Kuwaiti team and were defeated by the Iranian team. We felt the progress. This is despite fasting in Ramadan and the high level of humidity." The team played four games in the GCC football championship, with a perfect winning record leading up to the victory over Saudi Arabia in the final.
Zakariah Mohammed, the goalkeeping coach, said it was common for teams to be received by officials after tournament victories but noted: "This is the first time the team is received at this level. "We are accustomed to the boost they give us and this gives us moral support to achieve even better in the next step," Mr Mohammed said. "Winning the GCC championship is a great achievement and showed a clear progress in the performance of the players."
hhassan@thenational.ae