Dubai Police to meet Late Ebrahim Marouf for title

Former UAE winger Mohammad predicts a tough and entertaining finale

Former UAE winger Saif Omar Mohammad Al Bishr is confident of challenging defending champions Dubai Police in the final of the Late Maktoum Bin Rashid Memorial Football Tournament that will conclude today.

The former Al Shaab and Al Ain winger — now without a club — was one of the successful players scoring from the spot to lead his Late Ebrahim Marouf team to a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win against last year’s runnersup Bin Darwish in Saturday’s night semi-final.

In the other last four match, defending champions Dubai Police rode on a second half strike from Shabab Al Ahli defender to make their way past Al Fohood, led by former UAE and Al Wasl captain Mohammad Omar.

“It will be business as usual for us on Monday,” the 34-year-old Al Bishr told Gulf News.

“Most of the players in our team have experience at the top level. They know what to do and how to play. A final is a final and it doesn’t matter what state one is in. we have to all come together and play with only the trophy in mind,” he added.

After making his debut for the UAE in 2004, Al Bishr was last involved on national duty during the qualifying rounds for the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa. In July 2008, he was transferred to Al Ain for a reported Dh12 million while making him the second most expensive player in the UAE Pro League.

“This tournament is important for a lot of my teammates both from the national and club level as it allows us to keep fit during the off-season,” Al Bishr said.

“Don’t be fooled by thinking this is an easy event. This is one of the tough tournaments that I have been involved in so far. All teams are strong and competitive, and everyone is here to win,” he cautioned.

The final will be not be easy at all, and any team that makes less mistakes is the one who will win this trophy,” he added.