Meet Ali Saleh, UAE football’s boy who would be king
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.