Meet Ali Saleh, UAE football’s boy who would be king
Arabian Gulf League’s Best Young Player wants to see the UAE qualify for Qatar 2022
When he was in his early teens, Ali Saleh was benched for a full season by his coach at Al Wasl. The prodigious 13-year-old never understood such treatment and was ready to give up playing football altogether.
His dad Saleh convinced the youngster to stay. Two years later and a day after his 15th birthday, Ali made his debut against Al Ain to enter the history books of UAE football as the youngest-ever to play in a senior club squad.