Al Ahli's Emirati coach Mahdi Redha hopes that when he leads his team at the FIFA Club World Cup he will emulate the success he enjoyed when he steered the United Arab Emirates to victory in the AFC U-19 Championship last year, and when he then guided his country to the quarter-finals at the FIFA U-20 World Cup two months ago.

Redha took over as Al Ahli coach a month ago after Romanian coach Ioan Andone was sacked by the club, and during his brief tenure the side have won all three of their league games, climbing from tenth to seventh place in the league table.

The appointment of the 44-year-old created a small slice of history with Redha becoming the first Emirati coach of the club for 34 years, dating all the way back to the time of Jumaa Gharib, who took charge when the club was founded in 1970. Redha is now aiming to do well at a global club competition, as the head of the first Emirati team to play in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Redha says, "We've had a packed schedule over the past few weeks with matches in the President's Cup, the domestic league and the Etisalat Cup, but the last four games have been great preparation for us prior to the Club World Cup. We've also held a training camp in Al Fujeira and we're very happy with the outcome. We feel we're ready for the tournament, especially as a number of injured players have now returned to contention."

Redha believes Al Ahli's participation in the FIFA Club World Cup is a huge challenge as the event brings together the champions of all the different continents while his side are there as hosts and UAE champions, a trophy they have won five times. "Playing in the domestic league and cups is very different from the Club World Cup. This is the biggest club competition in the world. So far we've been concentrating purely on the league given with the position we were in. Fortunately that has improved recently and we'll now turn our attention to this competition so that we can put up a good performance."

"We aren't just representing Al Ahli but the whole of the UAE and we want to show off the high standard of football in the country" Al Ahli coach Mahdi Redha.