UAE put to rest a decade of hurt
dubai — A decade of hurt. That was what was put to rest in Al Ain on a muggy Tuesday night.
The Hazza bin Zayed Stadium was a furnace and the UAE, quite surprisingly, turned on the heat on Middle East behemoths Saudi Arabia, to cling on to the thinnest of threads to their World Cup dream.
The 2-1 verdict at the ‘Home of UAE Football’ exorcised a few demons, which had continued to haunt the Whites, over the past 10 years. The UAE were perennial strugglers against their neighbours, having come up short each and every time, until Tuesday night. They put an end to the ‘jinx,’ so to speak, a ‘mental block’ overcome on the night.
The UAE last had the sweet taste of victory against Saudi Arabia at the Gulf Cup of Nations back in 2007, eventually going on to win the competition.
Since then though, the UAE endured a poor run of seven defeats on the bounce, stretching until the World Cup qualifiers in 2015. A stalemate ensued the next time the two teams met in 2016 but it was back to square one again with a chastening 3-0 defeat in the third and current round of qualifying.
During that period, the UAE did have their chances but the Saudis always had the measure of the counterparts, which meant, it was job half done for the Whites.
The dominance of the Green Falcons was such that they had more than a large share of the pie — winning 75 percent of their matches as against the UAE’s 16.7 percent.
So, Tuesday’s win was important in more ways than one.
The UAE coach Edgardo Bauza may have tapered down their chances as they still sit fourth in Group B but the former Argentina manager made an important point during his post-match comments. He spoke about the attitude shown by the players on the night, and he was right.
His men were aggressive, hungrier and went for broke. They were shorn of their talisman Omar Abdulrahman and perhaps, his absence was a blessing in disguise. With veteran Ismail Matar, wearing the captain’s armband, adding those sparks of inspiration, the UAE rallied ahead, full throttle.
The Saudis are known for their physical style of play and the UAE beat them at their own game. It was a no holds barred contest and leftback Mahmoud Khamis took one for the team. After Al Jazira’s frontmen Ali Ahmed Mabkhout and Ahmed Khalil had knocked in two beauties, two bookings and the red card was a small price to pay for Khamis. He and his mates at the backline — Mohanad Salem, Mohamed Fawzi and Mohamed Ahmed — had done their job in keeping the UAE out of harm’s way.
And later, Omar Abdulrahman and Habib Al Fardan joined the impressive Tariq Ahmed in keeping it water tight in the middle.
The Whites still have a game to play against Iraq in Jordan, and with it, various calculations, on their road to Russia. But for now though, the UAE should savour a win that put to rest a decade of hurt.
james@khaleejtimes.com