Darwish out to cap off his incredible season in style

Hanoi: UAE midfielder Khalid Darwish has reason to approach the Asian Cup with great confidence after enjoying the most successful season of his career.

The 28-year-old Al Wasl playmaker lifted the Gulf Cup with his country in January before dominating the domestic season with Al Wasl, winning both the President's Cup and the league title, while also being named the nation's MVP in an FA poll.

"I have so much to be thankful for on national, club and personal levels," Darwish said.

In a poll to find the season's best player organised by a daily Arabic newspaper, Darwish gave his vote to Esmail Mattar, while Mattar voted for Darwish.

"I believe Esmail was the best player last season, bearing in mind his outstanding performance with the national team which led us to win the Gulf Cup for the first time in our history," said Darwish. "And with Al Wahda club, leading them to the quarterfinals of the Asian Champions League."

"I was overjoyed last year when Bruno Metsu called me to join the national team preparing for the Gulf Cup. The last, and only, time I played for my country was in 1999.

"We won the trophy and then my club had an exceptional season. The MVP title was the least pleasant achievement because it came as a fruit of the efforts of my colleagues.

"I want to express my appreciation to them and to the head coaches of UAE and Al Wasl."

Darwish, though, has no intention of basking in his past achievements and is firmly focused on making an impact at the Asian Cup.

"We are ready physically, mentally and tactically," said Darwish.

"There is determination in the players to win this match because we realise if our start of the campaign is good, then we will have a motive to go further in the competition.

Group is strong

"Especially as we will have to face the stronger teams in the group, Japan and Qatar, in our remaining matches. If we face them while we have three points in our balance, then we will play better and under less pressures.

"The group is strong, but if you want to be with the top teams, you have to overcome strong opponents. I am confident we are qualified to do just that.

"There are some new young players who have shown rich talent like Dada, Al Shehhi and Jaber and I believe they will have the chance to feature in this tournament. They are the hope of a formidable team in the near future."