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Abdullah Goes Down Memory Lane

The UAE were up against European giants West Germany in the Group D match of the 1990 World Cup in Milan.

“During the match, I remember I asked Lothar Mathews if I could take his shirt. He agreed to give me after the match,” a nostalgic Abdelrahman said.

“Then another teammate wanted his shirt as well. But after the match, he came and said to my teammate: “Sorry, friend..I have already promised your captain that I would give him my shirt..”

It was an unforgettable day. After all, Abdelrahman and his teammates had the privilege of playing against the eventual winners West Germany at the hallowed turf of San Siro. “Then again, when I was playing the last match of my life in 2001, I invited him. And he came. He came to my home as well..”

Now Abdelrahman, a key member of that UAE team which created history all those years ago in 1990 by qualifying for the World Cup, says the young players of the country can help the team play at the big stage again. “Maybe, you know, if players of the under-19 team, which reached the quarter-finals at the Youth World Cup, are trained well, we will have a good future.

“Maybe, these are the players who will be in the senior team. Some of them are very good. We may even have a chance of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.”

Abdelrahman is pleased with the way UAE qualified for the Asian Cup. “They did well in the qualifiers. But now it’s a matter of taking the first place in the group. I think tomorrow’s match against Uzbekistan will be tough. It’s an away match..”

The former UAE player then talked about why the UAE haven’t been able to produce quality strikers in recent years. “That’s a big problem I know. But what can you do when the clubs are willing to buy foreign strikers? Maybe it’s good for them. “But if you see the larger picture, it’s not good for UAE football. I am not against buying foreign strikers. But what I want is that we should also give our own strikers a good chance to grow. Only then we will start producing good strikers again,” said the former Al Nasr player.

Abdelrahman is looking forward to playing football again at the Emirates Dubai Sevens. “It’s been 20 years, you know. Playing in the world cup remains my most memorable football achievement. It’s not that I will be playing with my old teammates after a very long time.

“We have been playing in some friendly tournaments in Thailand and Jordan. But I am really thrilled as we have got an opportunity to play against some of the greatest players in the world. It will be an honour to play against Liverpool and other big teams. “I am especially looking forward to play AC Milan. You know, I have always been a Milan fan. I like Maldini. It will be great to play against such players.”