Al Jazira’s Ali Khaseif is the goalkeeper with a permanent smile, but while he may come across as a bit of joker, when it comes to football he’s deadly serious.
Ali Khaseif has been Al Jazira’s number one goalkeeper for the past couple of seasons, since joining the club in 2005, as well as being the first-choice shot-stopper for the UAE national Olympic team and understudy to Al Wasl’s Majed Nasser for the full national team.
Khaseif, who names Iker Casillas (the Real Madrid goalkeeper) as his favourite player of all-time, explains how he came be standing between the posts rather than following his friends and trying to score between them.
“I always used to play as a defender for my local team in Fujairah as a twelve-year old but one day our goalkeeper was sent off after giving away a penalty and I was told to go in goal. I managed to save the penalty and the other team couldn’t score against me for the rest of the match. Ever since then I have played in goal.” The rest, as they say, is history.
Halfway through the current season, Al Jazira are the only undefeated team in the Etisalat Pro League and sit five points clear of their nearest rivals at the top of the table. Khaseif has been a major factor in this success and is now convinced that his team are ready to go all the way.
“In the last two years we have come close but we’ve lost games that we should have won against teams in the middle of the table. This year we have been winning those games and hopefully that will make the difference.”
5.30am: As a professional footballer, Khaseif has to get plenty of rest but he wakes up early every day to pray before going back to bed for a few more hours sleep.
9.am: After a light breakfast, he likes to spend a little time chatting with his family before heading to the stadium for training. “I always start in the gym. Depending on the coach, sometimes I will train by myself or with one of the goalkeeping coaches. I like to push myself to be as fit as I can be so the coach is always creating new programmes for me.”
1pm: Time to grab a bite to eat. Khaseif has to make sure he eats a balanced diet but there is no set nutritional regime laid out by the club. “We’re allowed to eat what we want but we have to be sensible. I try to stay away from sweets, chocolate and fizzy soft drinks - my favourite food is spaghetti and salad.”
4pm: During the week, Khaseif joins up with his teammates in the afternoon for coaching sessions and practice games on the plush outdoor training pitches. If the club have a game coming up though, Khaseif’s routine will be a little different. “On a match day I’ll stay away from the telephone, except for family of course. I won’t read any magazines or newspapers either – I just try and stay focused on what I want to do during the match.”
Lots of professional footballers have certain pre-match rituals they like to follow before a match. What about Khaseif? “The only thing I do, just before the warm-up, is sit by myself for three minutes, clear my head and try to visualise how the game will play out and what saves I will make,” laughs Khaseif as he shakes his head.
7pm: After warming down and spending some time joking around with teammates and coaching staff, Khaseif has a few hours to relax. This driven young man’s life is all about football and family but does he have any interests outside of the beautiful game? “Racing,” is the instant reply. “I have a Porsche and a Mercedes and one day I would like to drive them around the track on Yas Island but I always seem to have training,” he jokes. Obviously, this is not something that the club would allow one of their star players to do … but even professional footballer players have to have dreams.
Watch Ali Khaseif in action in Al Jazira’s next home game at the Mohammed Bin Stadium against Al Sharjah on 18th February at 8.15pm.
Jon Muller
