Abdullah back training with Al Ain after contract delay

Abu Dhabi: Moutaz Abdullah, the former goalkeeper for the UAE national team, has resumed training with Al Ain after negotiations with the management team.

Moutaz missed the team's recent training sessions and the match against Al Shabab, which they lost 4-3 after a series of bad mistakes from goalkeeper Waleed Salem.

Moutaz was upset that Al Ain had not renewed his contract - which will end in June. He was approached by many other clubs, but he did not negotiate with them because he wanted to stay with the club.

Concentration

"I am loyal to Al Ain. It has the priority over all the others but, as a professional footballer, I have to secure my future and it is very important for me to settle this matter early so I can give my best to the club and stop worrying about my family's future. I don't want anything to shake my concentration in the matches," Moutaz told Gulf News.

Al Ain started preparing for their match against defending champions Al Wasl on Thursday, with Moroccan striker Sufian Al Aloodi taking part in the training session after recovering from an knee injury which he sustained in the finals of the African Nations Cup last month in Ghana after scoring a hat-trick for his country in their first match.