UAE stars heap praise on Al Habtoor competition

Dubai: The annual Al Habtoor Football Championship received rave reviews from a couple of top UAE stars with organisers promising to make the event even better.

"This is such a lovely competition. The atmosphere is great, the crowds come out to support and they appreciate what we do on the pitch," former UAE captain Mohammad Omar told Gulf News after his Jumeirah team went down 6-7 in the penalty shoot-out to the Egyptian Stars late on Friday. "As a player it gives me a great opportunity to keep in touch with a sport that I have lived and loved throughout my life. I wish there were more tournaments of this nature so that players like me could utilise in contributing to football," Omar said.

Fast and accurate

His younger brother Ahmad, who wore the captain's arm band in the final against the Egyptian Stars, was also of the same opinion. "I like this aspect of fast and more accurate football," Ahmad Omar noted.

"One cannot afford to make too many mistakes as you can be punished with a goal," he cautioned. "But we all enjoy this part of being together as a unit," he added.

Jumeirah should be given due credit for the way they fought their way into the match. Down by two early goals from the nippy Samaha Hussain, the UAE lads fought back to make it 2-1 with Ahmad Omar pulling one back just before half-time.

In the second half, Jumeirah went on an all-out attack only to find the Egyptian defence standing tall. And just when they looked menacing before the goal, former Tunisian skipper Zubair Baya received a second yellow for an automatic red card.

"The idea was to fight till the end," Mohammad Omar later reflected.

And this they did as the UAE skipper scored from the penalty spot after Ahmad Omar had been felled in front of goal.