After his heroic display in goal kept alive their World Cup qualification hopes, Khalid Essa revealed he had to speak to the capo of the UAE’s extraordinary supporters pitchside at their nerve-shredding game against Oman to ask for help.
Doha has only once previously witnessed the sort of scenes that accompanied the start of the UAE’s final push for a place at next year’s finals in North America.
An invading army of Emirati supporters descended en masse on the Qatari capital on Friday, ahead of their opening match in the three-team qualifier play-off.
They swamped Souk Waqif, the old town marketplace at the south of the city centre, lighting flares, waving flags, and singing songs in support of their team.
It was reminiscent of the way Argentina fans took over the city while their side were on their way to winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Now, the UAE are one match away from playing in the same event as Argentina, next summer in the United States, Canada and Mexico, after they beat Oman 2-1 on Saturday night.
Completing the job will not be easy. They need to avoid defeat on Tuesday against a Qatar side who will have had three days more rest than them.
Also, the UAE’s extraordinary support at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium will be restricted to around 1,000. Despite the tournament purportedly being a neutral play-off, Fifa granted Qatar both hosting rights and the ability to offer 90 per cent of tickets to their own fans for the game.
It means there will be a markedly different atmosphere to that of the Oman game. The UAE sold out their allocation of 5,000 tickets, and could have done so multiple times over.
Fans were in place two hours ahead of kick off. By the time the game started, many were sat in aisles and gangways.
Initially, the UAE players seemed overawed by the delirious level of expectation. Nerves were palpable as Oman dominated the opening exchanges, and took a deserved 1-0 lead into half time.
The match pivoted on a bold, three-man substitution by Cosmin Olaroiu at the break. He introduced the wise heads of Caio Canedo and Yahia Nader, as well as the star quality of young forward Harib Abdallah, and the momentum switched.
It took till the 74th minute for their efforts to be rewarded with a goal, when Marcus Meloni crashed in a header from a left-wing cross.
The winner arrived when Caio Lucas’s cross from a similar area drifted past everyone and into the corner of the Oman net in the 83rd minute.
Still, it required two stunning saves from Essa, the UAE’s goalkeeper and talisman, to close out the win amid almost unbearable tension in the stands.
After it, Essa revealed he had spoken to the capo - or top boy - of UAE’s supporters to ask for his assistance.
“We have played big games with big fans, and after the game I went to the lead fan to speak to him,” Essa said.
“A game is 90 minutes. You might concede a goal, but who will be motivating the players? It is the fans.
“When we conceded a goal, yes, the Emirati fans were a bit silent. With every wrong pass, we could see criticism or whistles.
“I went to them after the match and told them, you need to support us for the whole 90 minutes. You need to motivate us.
“There is a big difference between league matches and international matches. However, with the coach’s instructions, we were able to come back and control the match.”
Olaroiu, the UAE coach, said the fans had helped bring about the change in momentum for his side.
“I want to say thank you to the supporters for the fantastic energy they gave us. It kept us going,” Olaroiu said.
“When you have this type of support for your team, it changed [the game]. It was two different games in one.
“In the first half we started under huge pressure and made a mistake in the beginning of the game. After that, we began our recovery.”
The players have less than 72 hours in which to recover ahead of Tuesday night’s decider against Qatar, who drew their opening game against Oman on Wednesday.
“There are obstacles, there is turmoil, but we need to overcome all of that,” Essa said.
“We struggled in the first half but we were able to come back. Now we still have the biggest challenge, against a very strong team, playing at home, in front of their own fans.
“Now we need to take it easy, to calm down, as we have only secured three points. We need to start preparing for the game tomorrow.”
