UAE teammates celebrate by tossing Ismail Matar in the air following their 2-1 win over Uzbekistan in an Asian Cup qualifier in Abu Dhabi on Friday night. Satish Kumar / The National
UAE teammates celebrate by tossing Ismail Matar in the air following their 2-1 win over Uzbekistan in an Asian Cup qualifier in Abu Dhabi on Friday night. Satish Kumar / The National
For UAE football, old ones like Ismail Matar can still be the best
When the UAE was without one of their rising stars in Omar Abdulrahman, the home crowd backed them up and the team looked to veteran Ismail Matar, who took care of the rest, writes Ali Khaled.