The national football team is preparing to hold an internal gathering in Abu Dhabi at the end of this month, in preparation for its two upcoming matches against Qatar and Iran on the fifth and tenth of next month, respectively, in the first and second rounds of the decisive round of the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. Meanwhile, five distinguished players are now qualified to appear with the national team for the first time during the upcoming event, and the Portuguese national team coach, Paulo Bento, can now use them and benefit from their technical capabilities, after they appeared with their teams last season at an advanced technical level.
The five players are: Al Ain defender Kwame Otun (23 years old), Sharjah player Luan Pereira (24 years old), who is good at playing in midfield as well as attacking, Al Jazira players, striker Omar Traore (22 years old), and Mamadou Coulibaly (21 years old), who plays in midfield, in addition to Al Wasl midfielder Nicolas Jimenez (28 years old).
It is noteworthy that these players obtained Emirati citizenship during the past period, according to the official website of the Football Association, as well as the official website of the Professional League, and participated with their teams as Emirati players, and became available to represent the national team if they were chosen by coach Paulo Bento.
The team is participating in the final qualifiers for the World Cup in Group One, alongside the teams of Qatar, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and North Korea.
Al Jazira player Mamadou showed a distinguished level with his club during the past season, as he participated in 23 matches as a starter in the league, and the playing minutes he played with Al Jazira in the last league amounted to 1971 minutes.
In turn, Al Wasl player Nicolas Jimenez presented an advanced level with his team, and contributed with the rest of his fellow players to the team winning the ADNOC Professional League and the President’s Cup titles last season. Jimenez participated with Al Wasl as a starter in 26 matches, and the minutes he played with the team in the league amounted to 2085 minutes, while he scored five goals and made 14 goals.
As for Sharjah player Luan Pereira, he participated in 19 matches in the last league, 12 of which were as a starter. He played 984 minutes with the team, while Luan scored seven goals and made one assist.
As for Omar Traore, he imposed himself strongly in Al Jazira’s lineup, as he played 25 matches with the team in the league, 17 of which were as a starter. He played 1570 minutes, scored five goals and made four assists.
In turn, Al Ain defender Kwame played 20 matches as a starter with his team in the league, and the minutes he played with Al Ain amounted to 1702 minutes, and despite being a defender, he scored two goals. Kwame was one of the influential elements in Al Ain’s defense line last season, and won the AFC Champions League title for the second time in Al Ain’s history.
• The national team will face Qatar and Iran on the fifth and tenth of next month, respectively.
Suhail: I hope that time will allow Pinto to use the players. 5
Former international player and former national team supervisor Dr. Hassan Suhail, commenting on the possibility of national team coach Bento using the quintet Kwame, Luan Pereira, Omar Traore, Jimenez and Mamadou in the coming period, said that the national team currently needs homogeneous players more than it needs stars, noting that he hopes that coach Bento will have time to use these stars with the national team and settle on a stable and homogeneous lineup, especially since the national team has been playing in its recent matches with a different lineup in each match. Hassan Suhail added to “Emarat Al Youm”: “Although these players have excelled with their teams in the past period, the national team needs a homogeneous type of players, and these five players need physical preparation and to play more matches with the national team, so there is no objection to using them in the coming period so that the national team has a strong team to start its journey in the final qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.”
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