Why Omar Abdulrahman is the UAE's homespun magician

The four pace-setters in FourFourTwo's 50 Best Asian Players list have validated the pedigree of their talents in the World Cup, top European leagues and in some cases the UEFA Champions League. The same cannot be said of Number Five. Yet no-one would deny the truly special talents of Omar Abdulrahman.

The 2015 Asian Cup in January provided further evidence that he is one of Asia’s top five players. I attended his first game of the tournament in Canberra. In the pre-match press conference ahead of that vital clash with Qatar, the first question to UAE coach Mahdi Ali was not about his target for the tournament, but about the condition and fitness of their 23 year-old starlet. Australian and visiting media alike had come to see Abdulrahman.

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John Duerden has covered Asian sport for over 20 years for The Guardian, Associated Press, ESPN, BBC, New York Times,  as well as various Asian media. He is also the author of four books, including Rovers Revolution: Blackburn's Rise from Nowhere to Premier League Champions and Lions and Tigers: The Story of Football in Singapore and Malaysia.