John McAuley recounts some of the most memorable clashes between Al Ahli and Al Ain in the professional era.
Al Ahli 0-1 Al Ain, May 18, 2014
The scene was set at the President’s Cup final, but it was roles reversed. Ahli arrived at Zayed Sports City as the country’s undisputed No 1, having already lifted the Arabian Gulf Cup and taken Al Ain’s crown as UAE champions. Al Ain were attempting to salvage something from a miserable season.
Asamoah Gyan was the obvious hero, his tap-in just after a half hour proving enough to give Al Ain a sixth President’s Cup and deny Ahli an unprecedented treble. It was his 44th goal of the 2013/14 campaign.
Yet it was Omar Abdulrahman who set the tone, scrapping and sculpting in equal measure. His teammates simply followed his lead. Out-thought and outfought, an insipid Ahli failed to offer a shot on target until the 51st minute, although they did strike the woodwork twice late on. Al Ain were deserved victors. The result rescued their season and sparked a prolonged run in the Asian Champions League.
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Al Ahli 0-0 Al Ain, April 6, 2013
On the face of it, it was a disappointing stalemate between the table’s top two sides. Regrettably, it would be remembered not for what happened on the pitch, but off it.
As the match crept into injury time, the referee’s assistant denied Ahli a penalty and then was struck by an object thrown from the home support.
Bloodied and shaken, it prompted the referee to cancel the match. Al Ain were later awarded a 3-0 victory by the FA, while Ahli’s next two home matches were played behind closed doors at a neutral venue. A significantly unsavoury incident, this was UAE football’s bitterest rivalry ratcheted up. The sides met the following month in the President’s Cup semi-final, where Ahli won 2-1. It was far from routine.
Two Al Ain players were sent off, Al Ain had a late equaliser disallowed and Cosmin Olaroiu — then the Al Ain coach — was sent to the stands. Within two months, the Romanian had signed with Ahli.
Al Ain 3-6 Al Ahli, September 23, 2012
The 2012/13 league season began with a bang, with a performance worthy of the champions. The only thing was, they were on the receiving end. Al Ain had stormed to the championship that year and were expected to set an early marker for their title defence.
Ahli had other ideas. Having twice gone behind — first to Asamoah Gyan’s opener and then when Jires Kembo Ekoko restored the hosts’ lead — the Dubai club stunned the Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium with five second-half goals.
In the build-up, Grafite had spoken publicly about taking Gyan’s goalscoring crown that term; he issued a rather firm statement of intent by finding the net four times. Al Ain finished the match with 10 men, after Mirel Radoi saw red for a stamp. Despite the setback, Al Ain rallied to retain the league trophy with four rounds to spare. Ahli were runners-up, but by then a distant second.
A look back at the last five Super Cup encounters
2013: Al Ain 0 Al Ahli 0 (Ahli won 3-2 on penalties)
A hot and humid night did little for a sluggish tie, which sprung to life in the shoot-out. Majed Naser, the controversial Ahli goalkeeper, saved a pair of spot-kicks to gift his 10-man side the first of three trophies that season. He had just been recalled to the UAE national team following years beset by disciplinary issues.
2012: Al Ain 0-0 Al Jazira (Al Ain won 5-4 on pens)
Missing Walid Salem, their first-choice goalkeeper and captain, Al Ain saluted a new custodian, although not how they would have imagined. With the shoot-out poised at 4-4, Dawoud Sulaiman went from trying to keep out Jazira to firing Al Ain to the cup. His match-winning penalty, drilled into the roof of the net, was exemplary.
2011: Al Jazira 2-2 Al Wahda (Al Wahda won 7-6 on pens)
Wahda avenged that year’s 4-0 defeat in the President’s Cup final to Jazira. The match featured three penalties in normal time — two converted, one by each side — before Wahda triumphed deep into the shoot-out when Mutaz Abdulla saved Ahmed Jumaa’s spot kick. Wahda had the season’s first trophy, while Franky Vercauteren, the new Jazira coach, was condemned to a debut loss.
2010: Al Wahda 1-3 Emirates
Months earlier, Emirates had shocked UAE football by capturing the President’s Cup. The Ras Al Khaimah club could not save themselves from relegation, though, and so played the Super Cup as a Division One side. They caused another upset, defeating the champions thanks largely to Karim Kerkar’s double — both goals coming direct from a free kick.
2009: Ahli 2-2 Al Ain (Al Ain won 5-3 on pens)
Emerson, Al Ain’s latest Brazilian signing, announced his arrival on debut with one of the finest individual performances in Super Cup history. He struck twice in normal time for the Garden City club, who had completed the double earlier that year. Then in the shoot-out, Emerson supplied the decisive spot kick to spectacularly kick start his Al Ain career.
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