Golden Ball for Al Ain star Abdul Rahman
Club’s Croatian coach Mamic walks away with Leader Award at Arabian Gulf League Awards
As expected, Al Ain having clinched the Arabian Gulf League title, dominated the 2017-18 Arabian Gulf League Awards with their star player Omar Abdul Rahman clinching the Golden Ball Award for Emirati Player at a glittering function at the Emirates Palace yesterday.
The Al Ain playmaker may have only featured in 17 matches, but in those 1,131 minutes, he once again proved his position as one of the top players in the continent and was instrumental in scoring five goals himself, more than any other Emirati player in the side. Al Ain’s Rayan Yaslam and Ali Mabkhout of Al Jazira were the others who were nominated in the same category.
“I’m extremely pleased with the award. It is good to finish as the best player and I want to continue in the same way in the coming season. I want to ensure that Al Ain also stays there at the top,” a jubilant Abdul Rahman said.
Al Ain’s Croatian coach Zoran Mamic also walked away with the Leader Award. Sharjah coach Abdul Aziz Al Anbari and Laurentiu Reghecampf of Al Wahda were the others shortlisted for the award.
Mamic’s impact was evident in the Boss’ dominance as the team with the least number of defeats in the league being just one and the largest number of wins — 16 in total. The team with the strongest attack scored 65 goals.
“This is for the team not just for me. We deserve this and this award is for the Club,” said Mamic, the 46th coach in the history of the club, who became the second Croatian to win the title with Al Ain, following in the footsteps of Zlatko Dalic who lifted the trophy in 2014-15.
Al Wahda’s ace striker Sebastian Tagliabue walked away with the Golden Ball Award for Foreign Player.