Then, in January 2020, the UAE Football Association declared that two South American players had become eligible to play for the country\u2019s national team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And not just any two South Americans. Given the Emirati citizenship were Al Ain\u2019s Brazilian, Caio Canedo, and Al Wahda\u2019s Argentine Sebastian Tagliabu\u00e9, two players who between them have variously lit up the Arabian Gulf League over the last decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Canedo, who at 29 is six years Tagliabu\u00e9\u2019s junior, this is a tantalising prospect in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Could he be the man to drag the UAE national team out of its current rut?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With football at a standstill in the UAE and around the world during the coronavirus crisis, the answer might have to wait a little longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But debate over the rights and wrongs of the move is certainly under way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the news was announced at the start of the year, some UAE media outlets, with some degree of understatement, highlighted that the decision will open up an extra spot for a foreign player in Al Ain\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But make no mistake, it\u2019s at international level where this will have the seismic impact. Just as important are the reason behind this decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is no great revelation that a pivot towards this policy has taken place at time when the national team his going through some genuine struggles. Worse still, it has come at a time that the second golden generation, shaped by former coach Mahdi Ali, seems to be disintegrating before our eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having charmed the world at 2012 Olympics in London, and then won the 21st edition of the Gulf Cup of Nations in 2013, Mahdi Ali\u2019s exciting young team, led by Omar Abdulrahman, and including the likes of Ali Mabkhout, Amer Abdulrahman and Ahmed Khalil, peaked at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia, where they reached the semi-final and eventually finished third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n