Riyadh: Retaining the Gulf Cup is more important than winning the Golden Boot, according to inform UAE striker Ali Mabkhout.
The Al Jazira forward leads the tournament’s top scorer’s chart with four goals in three games after netting braces against Kuwait and Iraq to help the UAE qualify through to Sunday’s semi-final against hosts Saudi Arabia.
However, he insists he’s not just out for himself despite wanting to score more.
“I’m feeling very happy because I’ve scored four goals now and I’m so excited to score many more goals in the coming games,” he said.
“It is good for me, but thanks god, it is also down to the team, the team has helped me so much. And I hope I can continue to help them in the next game, and god willing we will win that game too.
“I hope to take [the Golden Boot] but it is more important for the team to remain Gulf Cup champions,” he added.
On the UAE’s semi-final against hosts Saudi Arabia on Sunday, Mabkhout said he hoped to replicate his form and played down fears of playing the hosts in their own backyard.
“It will be a difficult game, and I hope it is a fantastic one,” he said. “For us, it is no problem — we hope to win that game.”
Meanwhile, fellow UAE striker Ahmad Khalil, who scored three to finish joint top-scorer at the last Gulf Cup, which the UAE won in 2013, congratulated Mabkhout and said he didn’t mind his teammate hogging all the limelight.
“Sometimes if you don’t score someone else will,” he said. “We play for all the players. Ali is playing very well, and god willing he plays to the same level in the next game.
“The team is playing very well and god willing we can play just as hard in the next game. God willing we play like this, as we have to win.
“We have to enjoy ourselves after this game, but we have to continue, and god willing we will play just as well in the next game.”
