(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Eleven years on after the League turned professional and seven years on after the Arabian Gulf League Awards came into being, it was quite refreshing to see a man clad in the UAE National attire, winning The Leader Award for Best Coach.
The UAE's top flight has been witness to many foreign managers and they are the ones who have walked away with the accolade.
But this season has been quite different with a homegrown coach landing one of the top prizes in UAE football. Abdulaziz Al Anbari has had a path-breaking season, where he guided Sharjah to their first League title in 23 years.
A dream season it has turned out to be for the former Sharjah player as he became the first Emirati coach to win the League.
After being handed the award by Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Al Anbari said that the secret behind the success was just simply, teamwork.
"The secret was teamwork," said Al Anbari.
"We worked as a team this year. We told the players that if we want to fight against the strong teams, we must be together, like a family. We cannot only work individually. We started the League campaign like a team and we finished like a team. If you saw, we won the Best Goalkeeper Award and the Best Foreign Player Award. This, for me, is very important," he added.
It was by no means an easy path for Sharjah. But the team put their head down and worked their socks off to break the hegemony held by Dubai and Abu Dhabi clubs.
"It was not easy. We fought with teams who had more experience. But we worked together and what was most important was that the players listened to the staff. We were close together and we worked like family," said the 41-year-old.
Apart from teamwork, Al Anbari said their '12 th man,' the fans, had an important role to play.
"Our fans helped us too much this year. I'm really thankful to the fans for staying together and behind us through highs and lows," Al Anbari said.
He said that he had never imagined that the season would culminate in them winning the League. "In the beginning no, but from the second round onwards, I started to dream more," he revealed.
Finishing at the top means Sharjah will get a taste of Champions League football in Asia and Al Anbari was looking forward to the new challenge.
"It will be very hard next season. We will also be playing in the AFC Champions League. It will not be easy. Now, we need to double up our hard work next year. We need to some local players and I hope we can find some good local players. I know it will be difficult but will try to do our best next season," he signed off.
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