Remember when Omar Abdulrahman burst onto the scene at London 2012, dazzling football pundits the world over and winning an army of admirers in the process?
There was such hope that Abdulrahman would become a trail blazer for Emirati football, the first to become a genuine star in Europe. What it would have done for the image and reputation of not just Emirati football, but football in the entire Gulf region.
Suddenly clubs would have been searching for the ‘next Omar’, and young footballers would’ve had a role model to look up to and aspire to be.
And he had all the tools to succeed.
The touch, the guile, the skill, the flamboyance – who could forget the Panenka against Japan at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. Go back five or six years and there was no hotter prospect in Asian football than Omar Abdulrahman.
But it’s the hope that kills you.
As the years ticked by, and transfer window after transfer window after transfer window passed without any movement, despite a never-ending stream of rumours, hope turned to frustration. Why wasn’t he moving?
Slowly, too, chinks started to appear in his armour.
Take the 2016 AFC Champions League final, for example, when playing for his beloved Al Ain against Jeonbuk Hyundai from Korea. The Emirati side had emerged from the first leg in Jeonju only down 2-1 on aggregate but with an important away goal in their back pocket.
Heading into the second leg at home, there was, as always, hope and expectation.
Jeonbuk opened the scoring, but Al Ain hit straight back. Abdulrahman was at his influential best, controlling the game and pinging passes far and wide. He was in a world of his own.
Down 3-2 on aggregate, Al Ain were awarded a penalty just before half time. This was his moment. Step up, score and take all the momentum into half time. It would’ve been hard to see them losing from that point.
But he didn’t step up.
Brazilian Douglas was given the responsibility. A packed Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium held its collective breath.
He missed. And Al Ain lost.
It was a worrying trend that had developed for Abdulrahman, a habit of going missing in the biggest of games. He missed two penalties in the final of the Gulf Cup in 2018, the first at the end of extra time that would’ve won the game for the Emirates. He missed again in the penalty shootout as Oman stunned the UAE.
As silky and smooth as he was, did he have the mentality required to really take his game to that next level? Could he perform under that intense pressure? The very best players stand up in the biggest moments, it what makes them so brilliant.
Time and again, sadly, Abdulrahman was found wanting.
The hope that turned to frustration is now just disappointment.
His is now an unfulfilled talent. He still shows off his undoubted genius in the Arabian Gulf League for Al Jazira, but he is now a shadow of the player he once was and doesn’t elicit the same excitement he once did. Any aspiration he, and admirers of him, had of Europe have likely long since past.
When you think of the great Asian footballers past and present, the likes of Mehdi Mahdavikia, Ali Daei, Cha Bum-kun, Hidetoshi Nakata, Tim Cahill or Son Heung-min, they all have one thing in common – they all played and starred in Europe. It is the epicentre of world football and if you want to be considered as one of the best, you have to have proven yourself at that level.
Abdulrahman, as naturally talented as he is, can never be considered in that company.
From that Golden Generation of Emirati talent, it wasn’t just Abdulrahman either. Ali Mabkhout, who won the Golden Boot at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia, as the Emirates made the semi-final, was another regularly linked with a move to Europe such was his goal scoring record in the AGL.
After his success in Australia in the January of 2015, he spoke of his ambition to move abroad, with rumours linking him with a move to Germany or England.
“I want to play for a club in Europe,” he said after the Asian Cup in 2015. “When I get back to my club I will speak to them about going to Europe because teams there are better than in my country.”
But like Abdulrahman, nothing ever came of it and Mabkhout continues to ply his trade for Al Jazira, where his record now stands at 144 goals from 205 matches.
What could have been.
Fast forward to 2020 and there’s now a fear the Abdulrahman and Mabkhout story is playing on repeat, only this time in Qatar.
Almoez Ali and Akram Afif were the standout performers for Qatar as they stormed to their first continental success at last year’s AFC Asian Cup, with Ali breaking Ali Daei’s goalscoring record along the way, while Afif, like Abdulrahman in 2012, dazzled with his build up play.
While just two months prior, Abdelkarim Hassan was awarded the AFC Player of the Year after helping Al Sadd to the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League.
In the aftermath of their continental success, Ali spoke of his ambition to play in Europe, noting its higher level of play than in Asia.
“Of course, I look for European teams because in our league in Asia, not only in Qatar, but in all of Asia, we know teams are weak and we see that at the World Cup. They do not go far. Always, they go out,” he said.
“I hope to go out (to Europe) to learn and to come back for the World Cup in Doha in 2022.”
Eighteen months on, however, all three are still in Qatar.
This is despite both being linked numerous times with moves to Europe, and as the days tick down to Qatar 2022 the window for making a move becomes smaller and smaller.
Of course, a move after Qatar 2022 is always possible, but a move before 2022 provides them with the experience in Europe that Ali spoke of, and that will be necessary to ensure the home side is competitive when the World Cup comes around.
There was a time a few years ago when Ali, Afif and Hassan were all in Europe, in either Spain, Austria or Belgium. Playing time may have been more sporadic than hoped, but all were young and gaining valuable experience. And they had time on their side with 2022 still far off on the horizon.
At the time Afif spoke of his desire to stay in Europe and inspire the next generation.
“I would like to inspire the next generation of players from Qatar to play in La Liga or any of the other European leagues,” he said in an interview in 2016 when he was on the books of Villarreal and on loan at Sporting Gijon. “It is a responsibility and an honour at the same time.”
“I am only 19 years old so I am not in a rush. La Liga is a very tough league, but I am willing to improve myself and willing to obey the coach’s orders. The most important thing is learning Spanish, and I am learning the language so I think I can adapt well and help the team stay in La Liga this year. I am on the right way but I just need to be patient.”
That patience seemingly ran out in 2018 when he returned to Al Sadd, initially on loan, before signing a new five-year deal last month.
Hassan, too, recently signed a new deal that will tie him to the club until 2024, although interestingly in announcing the deal on his social media accounts, he openly stated his desire to move to Europe – a desire strengthened by the fact he is now represented by Base Soccer agency, with its extensive networks and contacts in Europe, including former Socceroo Vince Grella.
“Thank God, my contract has been renewed with Al Sadd,” Hassan, now 26, wrote. “And I thank everyone who stood by my side and supported me during this period.
“I also thank the Al Sadd management for leaving the doors of European professionalism open to me during the next period, upon the arrival of an offer that suits my potential and ambition.”
That management he referred to includes his coach at Al Sadd, Spanish maestro Xavi Hernandez, one of the greatest midfielders of the modern era, who was a teammate at Al Sadd for a number of years before taking over as manager.
While the lure of Europe remains strong, the chance to work under a guy like Xavi, with his football intellect, has to remain an attractive prospect. As a midfielder, Afif no doubt learned a lot by playing alongside Xavi and will be learning just as much playing under him. He is in safe hands.
In fact, Xavi is reportedly such an admirer of Afif, the reigning AFC Player of the Year, that he made it a condition of his own contract extension that Afif also be rewarded with a new deal.
“It’s a pleasure to coach him. He’s an unbelievable talent, and a big player, so I’m very happy for him,” the Barcelona legend said last year after Afif was awarded the AFC Player of the Year.
“There are no limits for him. I have told him many times that he’s an amazing player and he has many capacities to play football. He’s a talent. He can play everywhere. It depends on him: his mentality, his ambition, because he has everything (required) to play football.”
Despite strong reports in January linking Afif and Ali with moves to Europe, neither made the move. And now, as most European leagues finish up their COVID-affected seasons, and begin the planning for next, we once again see Ali linked with a move to Europe. He seems to be linked with a different club almost every day.
AEK Athens, Olympiacos, LASK Linz and Vitoria are all said to be chasing the 23-year-old striker, while Hassan is also said to be mulling over his own offers.
But will anything actually eventuate?
With Ali and Afif both still 23, and Hassan aged 26, there is still hope of a successful career in Europe for all three, but as we learned with Abdulrahman and Mabkhout, it’s the hope that kills you, and in the case of the Qatari trio, that hope is fading fast.
Photo: Al Sadd SC
Listen to Episode 33 of The Asian Game podcast as we review Qatar’s performance at the 2019 Copa America, analyse their squad and talk with midfielder Tarek Salman
