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Omar Abdulrahman denies insulting coach

During the Gulf Cup semifinal clash against hosts Saudi Arabia, Omar appeared to have not acknowledged his coach Mahdi extending his hand to shake with the star playmaker.

Dubai — Mercurial UAE midfielder Omar Abdulrahman lashed out at his detractors for trying to create uncertainty in the national team by claiming that he refused to shake hands with head coach Mahdi Ali.

During the Gulf Cup semifinal clash against hosts Saudi Arabia, Omar appeared to have not acknowledged his coach Mahdi extending his hand to shake with the star playmaker.

“I am shocked to hear such baseless talks that I refused to shake hands with the coach,” he told Al Ittihad Arabic from Riyadh.

“I don’t know who was behind that,” he said in shock and with slight irritation. Clarifying his position on the incident he explained: “In fact, I didn’t notice that Ali wanted to shake hands while I was leaving my place for Ismail Al Hammadi after my injury.

“Mahdi Ali is not only my boss, but he is also like an elder brother for me and for that matter for the entire team he is an elder brother,” he added.

“We have developed a very strong relationship that has strengthened over the years with great respect and love for him.”

He reiterated that it was impossible for him to ignore his coach. “At that particular moment, I was sad to leave my team while we were down by two goals. I had also closed my eyes while I was leaving the field due to excruciating pain I suffered due to my injury. Believe me, that’s the fact,” he confirmed.

Speaking about his own injury, Abdulrahman said it was a bruise in the ankle and didn’t reach the bone. “I hope to recover very soon to get back to action in the Arabian Gulf League matches with my club Al Ain. I don’t think it was intentional act from the Saudi player and such things happen in the game,” he said.

He said that the team was extremely sad with the 3-2 defeat to hosts Saudi Arabia. “We tried our best to repay the faith put in us by our fans, but it was not our day. I promise to delight all the UAE people in our upcoming commitments,” he said.

“The challenge ahead is not easy at all and our immediate target is to advance further in the finals of the AFC Asian Cup,” he added.

“We were the better side in the Gulf Cup tournament and there’s enough time to show the best of us in the near future. It’s a matter of luck, nothing more, nothing less,” he concluded.

hisham@khaleejtimes.com