Kalba goalkeeper Sultan Al Mandhari confirmed that he made many sacrifices to play as a starter for the first team in the ADNOC Professional League in preparation for achieving his dream of joining the national team, most notably his difficult decision to leave Al Ain Club, with whom he lived his best days, and move to the “Tigers” this season with a contract extending for two seasons. He stressed that he had accomplished 99% of his sporting ambitions in Al Ain, and all that remained was to join the “White” ranks again after he was on their roster in the Asian Championship, which was held in the Emirates in 2017. 2019, but he did not participate primarily.
Al-Mandhari (29 years old) told Emirates Al-Youm: “One of the most prominent sacrifices I made was leaving a club that was exceptional in everything, and my leaving coincided with the same year in which it won the AFC Champions League last season, as well as staying away from the Al Ain fans who encouraged and supported me, but I… I wanted to play as a starter, so I moved to Kalba, and what I am most happy about is that I found in this club distinguished support from the administration, the technical and administrative staff, and moral support from the (Tigers) fans, and I see “I am close to achieving what remains of my legitimate ambition, which is to join the Emirati White Club.”
He continued: “My height (190 centimetres) helped me to have continuous support from the goalkeeper coaches, who helped me play for all the national teams in the junior, youth and Olympic teams, and I played many matches in which we recorded good results in many matches, and I am now experiencing an important football experience with Kalba. It is a large and ambitious team, and it aspires to make its experience successful by joining the teams that win championships, which is not far away.”
Early challenges
He added: “I have encountered great challenges since I started playing football, including the fact that I lost my father since childhood, and although my family did not neglect me, the matter was very influential, and I had to rely on myself greatly, so I worked hard in training and took advantage of opportunities to develop myself both physically and mentally with the help of The clubs I played for are Al Jazira, Al Wasl and Al Ain.”
His coaches’ positions
Al-Mandhari pointed out that he remembers important situations he experienced in Al Ain that contributed to supporting him technically and socially, including the support of his coach in the Iraqi national teams, Samir Shaker, who trained him for four years. He learned a lot from him and still benefits from his advice until now, as he was a former coach of the Portuguese team Benfica.
He added: “I also remember my career with Egyptian coach Ahmed Zaher, who scouted me, developed me, helped me on and off the field, and he was the one who changed my mind from an amateur player to a professional.”
Clean windows
Al-Mandhari revealed that he played five matches in the cup and league with clean sheets, including two against Al-Bataeh, and a match against Khor Fakkan, Al-Oruba, and Shabab Al-Ahly. He said: “All these matches (clean sheets), and this is a large number that I am proud of, in addition to the number of saves.”
Al-Mundhiri had conceded seven times in seven matches, and he only holds himself responsible for one goal, while the rest is borne by the team as a whole.
Al-Mandhari was surprised that he was not chosen among the candidates for the best goalkeeper in the month of October in the Professional League evaluation, even though he participated with Kalba in achieving three victories and a draw from four matches during the month.
Foreign guard
Al-Mandhari stressed that he is not afraid to allow foreign goalkeepers to play with the first team in the professional league, because he has great confidence in himself and his fellow citizen goalkeepers, and that a lot of diligence and focus will ensure the success of him and others between the three networks. He said: “Many of the citizen goalkeepers are capable.” “They should professionalize in leagues outside the Emirates if they were given similar opportunities.”
Al-Mandhari revealed that he received an offer from an English players’ agent to include him in one of the third-tier teams in the English Premier League in preparation for transferring him to play in a higher and stronger league when he was 18 years old, but he did not have the financial capabilities to join the English club, noting that “the agent followed him for a while.” It took a long time before he presented the idea to him.
Sultan Al-Mundhiri:
• I am not afraid of the foreign goalkeeper coming to our league. I trust the capabilities of the national goalkeepers.
• The Asian Championship taught me a lot, even though I was sitting on the bench.
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