Feature of Kamali breakthrough

Abu Dhabi: Hamdan Esmail Al Kamali has set a new benchmark for UAE football by becoming the first Emirati player to pursue a career in Europe after he signed a deal to play on loan with French club Olympique Lyonnais until next June.

The central defender for the UAE and Al Wahda, Al Kamali, 23, has never played for another club in the UAE other than Al Wahda which he joined as a seven-year-old in 1996. He was quick to grab the attention of his club officials and was upgraded from the youth team to the seniors, for whom he made his debut as a 17-year-old on November 12, 2006 in a game against Al Jazira in Abu Dhabi. The debut match was not a happy experience as his team lost the game by a single goal while the young debutant was sent for an early shower after receiving a red card.

The strapping Al Kamali got his big break in the 2009-10 season when he led the country's youth team to victory in the Asian Youth Championship in Saudi Arabia. He also helped his club win the second edition of the UAE Professional League in the same season and made his way into the senior national team.

A silver medal with the UAE Olympic team followed in the 2010 Asian Games in China and later that year he was on the team that tasted victory at the GCC Under-23 Championship.

"It is a difficult task for Hamdan [Al Kamali] to succeed in Europe but I have confidence in him because he is a hard worker and a dedicated player," Dr Abdullah Misfir, the UAE coach, told Gulf News yesterday.

Catching the eye

Al Kamali's early promise while he was playing with his country in the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Egypt in 2009 drew the attention of European talent scouts. His profile has only risen during the last two years and he had on-and-off negotiations with Olympique Lyonnais. The real deal took shape during the winter transfer window last month as he moved to France in an undisclosed deal to play for the club's reserve team until he proved himself worthy of the French former champions' first team.

Giving an update on Al Kamali's status, Dr Misfir said: "I have talked to him in France and I knew that the club officials have prepared a tough training programme for him to prepare him both tactically and physically to play for their second team in a programme that extends for a whole month. It is a difficult training programme for a player accustomed to the local training programmes and to the local brand of professionalism.

"Hamdan will have to change the way of life he has grown up in to become a real professional player and I do believe that he will be a gain to our national team when he completes the training programme. I can't invite him for the next match in the World Cup qualifiers against Lebanon on February 29 so that he can concentrate on his programme without a break.

"I am looking forward to the day when I see him playing for the senior team of Olympique Lyonnais whether in the French league or in the Uefa Champions League and, believe me, if he succeeds, and I believe he will, that will encourage other clubs to come here and look for talent and the game here and the national teams will benefit greatly."