by OMAR AL RAISI

The achievements of the UAE national team and its talented players are well publicised, but in terms of development, the team seems to have hit a brick wall of late. There clearly is a deficiency, and the most important question is, how will it impact UAE’s qualification to 2018 World Cup.

UAE has dropped four vitals points so far, losing to group leaders Saudi Arabia and drawing against Palestine. UAE is in a situation, where all the remaining three games are a “must win”, including the home leg game against Saudi Arabia, which could be the decider.

Since UAE’s “golden generation” that took the nation to their first ever Olympics games in London 2012 and winning the 2013 Gulf Cup, the fans have been ecstatic that finally they have a team that can take the country to their first World Cup appearance since 1990.

The current players are more than good enough; Mahdi Ali’s tactics have been proven successful over the years, from his youth teams to the Olympics team to winning the 2013 Gulf Cup with the senior team and finishing third at the 2015 Asian Cup.

The deficiency? It lies in the youth development and its integration to the senior team since the last three years.

The UAE U17 team, which took part at the 2013 edition of the U17 world cup, which was held in the country, has failed to supply a single player to the senior squad.

The current UAE U17 team did not only failed to qualify for the U17 World Cup 2015 in Chile, but they failed to qualify for the Asian biennial international youth tournament (2014 AFC U16 Championship) in which the top four teams qualify for the Asian spots at the U17 World Cup.

These are rather alarming signs, for a nation which dreams to make it to the World Cup.

The current pool of talented Emirati players have missed out on the age restricted tournament experience at youth level, while their foreign counterparts are absorbing the opportunities that will prove invaluable when they make the transition to their respective senior teams later. Simply, doing well in junior competitions will teach players how to cope with tournament football later in their careers, but for the UAE youth team, first they have to qualify for those tournaments.

The likes of Ahmad Al Attas of Al Jazira, Mohd Al Akbari of Al Wahda and Suhail Ahmed Al Noobi of Baniyas are extremely talented but their lack of chances with their respective clubs are delaying their progress to the senior team. None have had a chance to learn how to be successful playing for their clubs.

These deficiencies, in part, should prompt the Football Association to set up a commission looking into the reasons for the dwindling pool of young Emirati players in the Arabian Gulf League.

While the FA cannot subject the clubs to any kind of quota system, but co-operation between the FA and leading clubs, coaching standards and youth tournament experience are all areas - which need addressing.

The 2018 World Cup in Russia is two years away, meaning that if UAE qualifies, many of the “golden generation” players who broke into the senior team over the last three years will be in their late 20s, in theory, they will be the experienced core of the team, which needs to be supplemented by a new generation of younger talent.

But practically, UAE has only until March 2016 to guaranty their spot at the 3rd Round of the qualifying process, which will include eight teams from each of the eight group leaders and four “best” teams picked by the AFC.

However, at present one of the main problems, which could hinder that ‘core’ from being successful is that, the current youths have not been given a solid grounding in the Arabian Gulf League, to set them up for the senior squad to support the core of the team.

For that reason, it is legitimate to argue that young Emirati players playing in the U21 AGL league is not at the level where, the quality is good enough to have a clear path to the first teams.

There are young talented Emirati players in the club’s books, but all they need is a chance to break into their clubs senior teams, just like the current golden generation was given their chance.

Top 5 Emirati youth talents

Name: Mohammad Al Akbari
Age: 19 years
Club: Al Wahda
Position: Striker

Mahdi Ali has given Al Akbari his debut against Malaysia at the 2018 world cup qualifier, where he played for 14 minutes and looked lively. Al Akbari needs more minutes with Al Wahda to gain first team experience and compete with Ali Mabkhout and Faisal Khalil for one of the striker positions.
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Name: Khalfan Mubarak Al Shamsi
Age: 20 years
Club: Al Jazira
Position: Striker

An Ajman club youth product, who moved to Al Ahli club in 2008. He was once hailed by Quique Sanchez Flores (former Al Ahli manager) as the next big thing in Emirati football. But since his transfer to Al Jazira in 2013, Khalfan’s progress seems to have stopped. He has not made a single senior appearance so far for Al Jazira. A hugely talented player but needs a chance to prove his worth at the top level.

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Name: Ahmad Al Attas,
Age: 20 years
Club: Al Jazira
Position: Striker

An Al Jazira youth product, Al Attas is another potential player who has all the skill set to break into the senior team. He has not yet debuted for the senior national team, but travelled with the team for the games against Timor-Leste and Malaysia. Mahdi Ali has been keeping tabs on his progress at Al Jazira, where he has played only one game with the senior team so far.
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Name: Suhail Ahmed Al Noobi,Age: 19 years
Club: Baniyas
Position: Striker

Suhail first came to the scene at the U17 World Cup in 2013, which was held in the UAE. He broke into the Baniyas first team last season, playing four games in total. This season he has played only thrice so far, and is still looking for his first goal. He needs the manager’s trust and support to develop further and has everything a striker needs to be a regular at Baniyas.
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Name: Abdulla Al Naqbi
Age: 22 years
Club: Al Dhafra
Position: Midfield

Abdullah Al Naqbi has been playing regularly for Al Dhafra at the AGL, but at the age of 22, he is still waiting for his first cap with the national team. The midfield is the most talented and competitive area of the UAE team, with talents like Mohd Abdulrahman only good enough for the bench. It has been tough for young midfielders to break into the senior team. For Al Naqbi to be called up by Mahdi Ali, he has to improve his performances drastically in the coming months.