UAE's chance to make the big Olympic move

Abu Dhabi It's well over a quarter of a century since the UAE began chasing its dream of featuring in the final round of the football competition at the Olympics. The UAE team participated in the qualifiers for the first time in 1984 hoping to make it to the Los Angeles Olympics, but exited in the first round after finishing third in the group behind Iraq and Bahrain after Lebanon withdrew from the qualifiers. The UAE also finished third in the qualifiers for the Seoul Olympiad in 1988. Four years later, the UAE failed again to make it to the Barcelona Olympics, finishing behind Qatar and Iran in a group that also featured Yemen and Pakistan. In 1996, the UAE produced their best-ever results in the Olympic qualifiers as they finished the preliminary round leading a group that also featured Iran and Turkmenistan. They finished fourth in the final stages as Japan pulled ahead in the race for the Atlanta Olympic Games heading the group with seven points and a better goal difference than Iraq after they finished level. Oman mustered three points while the UAE failed to collect a single point. The heartbreak continued in the qualifying campaign for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games as the UAE finished runners-up in a group that also included leaders Qatar and bottom team Yemen. The UAE tasted some success in the qualifiers of the 2004 Athens Olympics after leading the preliminary round which also featured Thailand and Tajikistan but finished third in the final stages behind Japan and Bahrain. Biggest achievement In 2008, the UAE failed again to progress from the first round of the qualifiers finishing third behind South Korea and Uzbekistan, in a group that also included Yemen. Till date, the cornerstone of the UAE's achievement in international football had been the senior team's qualification for the 1990 World Cup in Italy but the current ‘golden generation', as Mahdi Ali's boys have come to be called, have drawn a parallel. The UAE's biggest achievements in regional, continental or international competition include, in addition to playing in the finals of 1990 World Cup in Italy, featuring in the finals of the Fifa Youth World Cup in Malaysia in 1997 and in 2003 in the UAE and in 2009 in Egypt. The UAE also made it to the finals of Fifa Under-17 World Cup in Italy in 1991 and in Nigeria in 2009. At the Asian level, the UAE finished second in the Asian Cup in 1996 in the UAE after losing the ‘sudden death' shootout to Saudi Arabia. UAE teams won the Asian Youth Championship in 2008, the silver medal at the 2010 Asian Games in China. Al Ain added to the lustre by winning the AFC Champions League in 2003. Regionally, the UAE won the Gulf Cup in 2007 after finishing second in 1986, 1988 and 1994. They also won the Under 23 Championship in 2010 and finished second in 2011. The UAE won the GCC Junior Championship in 2006, 2009 and 2010. At the club level, Al Shabab won the GCC Clubs Championship twice and Al Ain, Al Jazira and Al Wasl won the title once each.