Cosmin Olaroiu says the UAE national team want to deliver qualification for the World Cup as a gift for “a nation that deserves it”.
Fourteen years after he first arrived in the club game as coach of Al Ain, the Romanian has taken charge of the national side with the ultimate prize at stake.
They face Uzbekistan in Abu Dhabi on Thursday evening knowing direct qualification to the 2026 World Cup is possible, even if it is hanging by a thread.
If the home team can beat the second-placed Uzbeks at Al Nahyan Stadium, they will move to within a point of them in the group.
They would then need to better whatever result the Uzbeks achieve against Qatar on Tuesday in their own game in Kyrgyzstan to book their ticket to the United States, Canada and Mexico. Coincidentally, Tuesday is also Olaroiu’s birthday.
Even though he has been in situ in his new role for little more than a week, optimism has been flooding through the game here since he landed the role.
His appointment has infused people with the belief qualification can be achieved without resorting to a repechage play-off in October.
It is the 'Olaroiu effect' in motion, but the man himself says only a group effort will bring about success.
“It’s not about me,” Olaroiu said. “I am a small part of this team. I am here to help, and give my support and experience to transfer to the players to reach their dream.
“It is about this group of players. They have the biggest opportunity at this moment that most of them will have in their careers: to participate in a World Cup.
“They should understand this and be very motivated to reach their dream, and the dream of a nation that deserves to get this. For us, this is a big responsibility.”
Given how much rests on the game against the Uzbeks, Olaroiu has a tricky balance to strike.
He acknowledged his coaching staff have had to rein back the players at points over the past week, so enthusiastic have they been. Even that, though, he regards as positive.
“Sometimes they overload themselves and we have to tell them to calm down a little bit, and this is a good sign that they want it,” Olaroiu said. “This is the way we should approach the game.”
Olaroiu accepts the challenge facing his side is a sizeable one against an Uzbek side which he terms “one of the biggest teams in Asia”. But he enjoys it that way, he said.
“In my career I have been involved in games against lots of teams who are bigger than us,” the UAE coach said.
“Always, we have one chance, and I will fight for the chance. We have to do this, and tomorrow is our first chance to do this.”
If Olaroiu is charged with readying the players for the challenge ahead, then he has an able captain on the field to help carry out the mission.
Khalid Essa, the goalkeeper, is almost as adept at delivering a message as his new coach. The Al Ain No 1 said he feels privileged to finally work with Olaroiu.
“I have spent 15 years representing the clubs I have played for and the national team,” Essa said. “Through these years, I can say I am very proud and lucky that, before I retire, I have played under the guidance of this coach.
“He is a coach who can understand the players inside and outside the pitch. He can extract the maximum from the players. He has leadership characteristics, and knows the players who are here more than any other coach.”
Essa, too, emphasised the fact success will only come via a communal effort.
“We are much closer to the World Cup than we have ever been, and we believe in this moment,” Essa said.
“It will be a joint effort between the players, the management, the federation, the fans, and the entire nation.
“If we continue in this way, we can achieve big things. Until this point we have been performing well, but luck wasn’t on our side, fate wasn’t on our side.
“We don’t know what the result will be tomorrow, but we will put in all our efforts, and we are expecting a positive atmosphere. We are seeing that already.
“We are all sailing the same ship here. We all want to qualify for the World Cup. The entire country. To do that, for the next five days we all need to share in the joint effort.”
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
HAEMOGLOBIN DISORDERS EXPLAINED
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
1.
|
United States
|
2.
|
China
|
3.
|
UAE
|
4.
|
Japan
|
5
|
Norway
|
6.
|
Canada
|
7.
|
Singapore
|
8.
|
Australia
|
9.
|
Saudi Arabia
|
10.
|
South Korea
|
Veere di Wedding
Dir: Shashanka Ghosh
Starring: Kareena Kapoo-Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania
Verdict: 4 Stars
More on animal trafficking
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
AIR
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBen%20Affleck%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMatt%20Damon%2C%20Jason%20Bateman%2C%20Ben%20Affleck%2C%20Viola%20Davis%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.