UAE star Omar Abdulrahman is edging closer to a return to competitive action following his recovery from knee surgery last year.
The Al Hilal playmaker, 27, has not played since October, when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the Saudi Pro League match against Al Shabab.
Abdulrahman then had surgery in Barcelona, with the injury forcing him out of the 2019 Asian Cup, played in the Emirates earlier this year. Despite his absence, the UAE reached the semi-finals.
In a video posted online late on Saturday, Abdulrahman’s surgeon confirmed that he was delighted with the 2016 Asian player of the year’s rehabilitation. Sitting alongside the midfielder, the surgeon added: “For the moment, we are happy. Everybody is thinking Omar will come back to play football and he will be the best soccer player we have in the Arabian Gulf.”
طبيب #عموري يمنحه الضوء الأخضر للعودة إلى الملاعب.. pic.twitter.com/IAv3tlLPqo
— الاتحاد الرياضي (@alittihadSport) June 22, 2019
Abdulrahman’s club future has been subject to much speculation this summer, where a potential return to Al Ain has been mooted. The former captain spent 10 years with the first team before leaving on a free transfer last summer. However, sources close to the player have long maintained an extension to his one-year agreement with Hilal represented the most likely option.
Abdulrahman was last month named in the UAE squad for new manager Bert van Marwjik's first training camp with the national team, which takes place in Salzburg, Austria next month. The get-together will run from July 13-22.
Whatever transpires at club level, Van Marwijk will welcome Abdulrahman’s return to the national team set-up. Appointed in April, the Dutchman has set as his primary objective a place at the 2022 World Cup. The draw for the second round of qualification – as a seeded side, the UAE enter then – takes place.
