Two members of the legendary 1990 UAE national football team, the only UAE team ever to qualify for the World Cup, have just returned from an emotional trip to this year’s Brazilian finals, where they were reunited with the UAE 1990 coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira.
Ali Thani and Abdulrahman Al-Haddad were flown out to Brazil to meet Alberto Parreira, now the technical director of the Brazilian national side, as part of a documentary being made by Image Nation chronicling the UAE’s historic qualification for the World Cup finals in Italy 24 years ago.
“The trip to Brazil was beyond imagination, I cannot describe the feelings I had,” said Thani, a former Sharjah player. “The reunion with Parreira was very emotional, it was like a father and child reunion. When he saw us the first time it was during a press conference for the Brazil team; he paused the press conference to welcome and introduce us!”
The two men visited the Brazil training camp, met the players and their families, and watched a match at the iconic Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
“Twenty-four years ago I was coached by the same manager who looks after these players, many of them were not born at that time,” said Thani, who scored a header against Yugoslavia during the 1990 tournament. “They did not believe I still have the shirt I used to wear during Italia ’90 until I showed it to them and asked Parreira to sign it!”
Al-Haddad revealed that the documentary was fortuitous, as he’d been hoping to catch up with Parreira for some time: “I considered making a similar trip a long time ago but circumstances did not allow me at the time,” he said. “One day I received a call from Image Nation and they told me about the brilliant documentary and surprised me with this trip to Brazil to reunite with Parreira.
Thani has fond memories of the team’s unexpected qualification, which led to him and his teammates being dubbed the UAE’s ‘golden generation’: “At the time, we were a group of amateur players, making many sacrifices to play and represent our country,” he recalled. “Many had left their families, others left their jobs, just to be able to play in the World Cup qualifications. Nobody expected us to beat all the odds and qualify.
“I still remember the match we played in the qualifications phase against China. Everybody was excited, determined to prove ourselves fit to play at the World Cup. I would like to thank Image Nation for all the efforts they are placing in order to document this great achievement, which is the greatest for the UAE football.”
Al-Haddad added: “Playing in the World Cup is a great accomplishment that all countries dream to realise, achieving it requires a lot of hard work.”
It may have been only a second, non-playing, trip to the finals for Thani and Al-Haddad, but Parreira is something of a regular. He is one of only two managers to have coached five different national sides to World Cup Finals qualification (the other is Bora Milutinovic, for the trivia fans) – Kuwait in 1982, Brazil in 1994 and 2006, Saudi Arabia in 1998 and, most recently, host nation South Africa in 2010.
Don't forget, as already reported, Image Nation is seeking fans' memories of the historic World Cup in 1990. My own abiding ones are of Chris Waddle's semi-final penalty sailing over the bar, and of Jurgen Klinsmann demonstrating that he had a promising career as an Olympic diver awaiting if things didn't work out on the pitch. Which obviously they did as he lifted the World Cup a couple of days later.
But I wasn't in the UAE in 1990. If you were, and you have some memories that may be more useful to the producers, drop them a line at UAEWorldCupFilm@gmail.com, go to the Facebook page or on Twitter @UAEWorldCupFilm.
cnewbould@thenational.ae
