Sport | Football
Mubarak pins hopes on talented juniors
UAE star left wing-back Nawaf Mubarak confirmed that his team were well prepared and ready to kick off their campaign in the 19th Gulf Cup competition.
- By Yasir Abbasher, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:19 January 3, 2009
Muscat: UAE star left wing-back Nawaf Mubarak confirmed that his team were well prepared and ready to kick off their campaign in the 19th Gulf Cup competition.
"We are prepared for the tournament. We have had a long training camp in Switzerland and France during the summer for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers and then we took part in domestic competitions with our respective club teams. For the last 10 days, we have been training together in Al Ain and Dubai, where we played two friendly matches against Iraq and Kuwait," Nawaf told Gulf News here yesterday.
"We are physically fit because we joined the national team training camp only two days after our last league match.
"We are no less than the team that won the title two years ago. In fact, we may be better this time as some highly talented youngsters have joined the side and I expect them to show their best in the tournament," added Mubarak, who was one of the members of the victorious 2007 team.
On being asked if the UAE side were under extra pressure, owing to the fact that they are the reigning champions, Mubarak said: "Not at all. We are used to playing under pressure even in our local league matches. We have won the title once and that is a great achievement. We will do our best to retain the title, but then every other team will also look to win the trophy. So that way, every single team will be under pressure.
"I believe that only Oman might be under [extra] pressure, but their players are professionals and know how to deal with the situation."
Mubarak praised the decision to add Mohammad Omar and Abdul Salam Jumaa to the team. He hailed the decision to convince the duo to come out of retirement. "Omar and Abdul Salam have added a lot to the team and they will play a good role in guiding the young players.
"We have competition for each place in the team and no place is secured. It is good for the team to have many ready players for each position."
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