Meeting the President biggest prize for us, says Al Rumaithi

Abu Dhabi: UAE FA chairman Mohammad Khalfan Al Rumaithi expressed his gratitude to President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and said that all the achievement of the youth of the UAE are fruits of the support of the leaders of the country.

The players of the youth team will get Dh500,000 each for winning the Asian Youth Championship and reaching the Fifa Under 20 World Cup next year in Egypt, while the players of the junior team will get Dh300,000 each for making it to the finals of the Fifa Under-17 World Cup next year in Nigeria.

"Meeting His Highness the President is the biggest prize for all of us. On behalf of my colleagues, the members of the UAE FA, the officials of the teams and all the players, I find no words enough to express our true gratitude and thanks to His Highness for his kind and noble support for the youth and sports in the country.

"Winning the Asian Championship is but a small reward for the huge support we find from our leaders," Al Rumaithi told Gulf News after the reception at the Al Buteen Palace.

Feeling proud

"The players of both teams are feeling proud and will be determined to do their best in their next official tournaments so they can again meet the President. They know the responsibility that comes with this honour. They will have to be at their best when representing their country in the future," Al Rumaithi added.

Al Rumaithi recalled the efforts of his predecessors in the UAE FA, headed by Yousuf Al Serkal, and said: "We have to thank our brothers in the former FA because they started preparing this team four years ago and we came to compete what they started. The achievement is not only ours. It also belongs to the former FA members and nobody can prepare a team in only months to win a continental championship."

About the future and how to keep this team together and prepare it to become the country's senior team, Al Rumaithi said: "We have our plans to prepare the team. First, they will have to start preparing for the finals of the Under- 20 World Cup and then they will become the country's Under-23 team to take part in the qualifiers of the London 2012 Olympic Games. They will then be upgraded as the senior team for the qualifiers of the 2014 World Cup.

"We also have plans to bring about improvement in local coaching standards - bearing in mind that both achievements of the youth and junior teams were achieved by Emarati coaches. Mehdi Ali and Ali Ebrahim have both proved their credentials," he added.