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Al Wahda ready: captain

Al Wahda, by virtue of being the UAE Pro-League champions, have qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup which begins in the capital from Wednesday.

Al Wahda take on Oceania champions Hekari United of Papua New Guinea in the opening fixture at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium on Wednesday.

The FIFA Club World Cup is the most prestigious tournament in international club football, bringing together the champion clubs from each of the six continental confederations: Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, South America and Oceania, as well as the 2010 winner of the UFL. Played annually, the winning team is crowned Club World Champion, a title currently held by FC Barcelona.

Abu Dhabi had also hosted the tournament in 2009. This year marks the final year of competition in Abu Dhabi before the tournament returns to Japan in 2011.

Seven teams will compete over the course of eight matches for a prize fund of $16.5 million, with the champions earning $5 million.

“Of course, it is a big tournament and we are happy to be participating in it,” Al Wahda captain Haider Alo Ali said on Monday.

Last year, Dubai-based club Al Ahli had qualified for the tournament by virtue of being the champions but they failed to impress, going down to Auckland City FC in the opening game. Haider Alo Ali, though, said that Al Wahda have learnt from Al Ahli’s mistakes and are better prepared. In fact, the UAE Football Association (UAE FA) decided that Al Wahda players would not be picked for the National team so as to keep them together.

“We have taken the positives and negatives from Al Ahli’s showing last year. We have worked hard and we are ready. We will do our best to perform in a positive way,” said Haider Alo Ali.

He said that home support will be a massive factor despite them playing their opening game at UAE Pro-League rivals Al Jazira’s Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium. “The crowd will be behind us as we are representing the UAE at such a big tournament. We are going to imagine that we are playing on our home ground,” Haider Alo Ali said.

Meanwhile, Al Wahda coach Josef Hickersberger said that the training has been going on well and they would put up a good show. “All players are with us and they are training well and it is looking good,” Hickersberger, who led Al Wahda to the Pro-League title, said.

The Austrian said that there were some minor niggles with some of the players but they would be match fit. “We had some players who were injured before but we are trying to get them match fit,” he said.

james@khaleejtimes.com