At half-time on Saturday night, the air was thick with disappointment. The same UAE fans who had rocked central Doha late into the previous night sat stunned and silent in the stands of Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
The World Cup dream which had felt so tangible the previous evening, maybe even a foregone conclusion, seemed to be vanishing before their eyes.
They were 1-0 down against Oman in a game in which they needed to avoid defeat to keep alive their chances of making it straight to next year’s finals. Really, it could have been even worse.
Collectively, the national team had appeared entirely spooked by what was upon them. Kouame Autonne had diverted one into his own net. Lucas Pimenta had lost his customary assuredness.
Abdullah Ramadan seemed as though he needed to install Google Maps to have a chance of locating his teammates. Even Khalid Essa, who has seen it all before in 14 years in goal for the national team, was making uncharacteristic errors.
To add injury to insult, Yahya Al Ghassani, the one shining light amid the gloom of the 45-minute horror show, had left the field in tears, with his thigh heavily strapped.
Already one substitution down, three players lined up ready to enter the field of play ahead of the second half.
Just before they were waved on, the seniormost, Caio Canedo, grabbed the other two – Yahia Nader and Harib Abdallah – and pulled them in tightly.
“I told them that we only had 45 minutes to our dream,” Canedo, the 35-year-old Al Wahda striker, said.
“We knew we couldn’t lose. If we lost, Oman would reach four points, and we were out. Guys, this moment is everything we dreamed since we were a kid: a chance to at least fight to have the opportunity to go to the World Cup.
“Every kid who wants to be a football player, their main goal is to go to the World Cup. It is the highest point of the mountain.
“I said, ‘Guys, we have 45 minutes. In those 45 minutes, we can only draw or win, we cannot lose. We need to give our lives here. If we have to die here tonight, it is going to happen.’
“We needed to get these points – one point or three points – and, Alhamdulillah, we got the three points. We had 45 minutes to change this chapter, and continue making history.”
With the three-man half-time switch, the UAE went from calamitous to courageous. Both the deep lying midfielders, Ramadan and Majed Hassan, were withdrawn. Even Fabio De Lima, the creative maestro of the national team, was sacrificed.
On came Nader to play alongside Nicolas Gimenez in a central midfield two. Canedo and Abdullah joined the attack in a formation which was basically a gung-ho 4-2-4. And Cosmin Olaroiu’s tactical masterstroke worked.
The UAE were denied a penalty in the 69th minute after a VAR review, but still they powered on. Their endeavour was rewarded seven minutes later when Marcus Meloni headed in the equaliser, and his Sharjah teammate Caio Lucas scored the winner with seven minutes of the 90 remaining.
Canedo played for Brazilian giants like Botafogo and Internacional before moving to Dubai club Al Wasl in 2014, and he said he drew on all his experience to help bring about the turnaround against Oman.
“I am 35 years old; I have a little bit of experience,” Canedo said. “I used to play in the first division in Brazil where there is always a packed stadium with a lot of fans.
“I just told the guys, ‘Listen, stay calm, let’s play our football. We have a lot of quality.’ Oman had played before, and this was our first game [in the play-off] so the guys were a little bit nervous.
“I think the attitude and the spirit [after half-time] was a little bit different. The style of the game was also in our favour – long balls, fighting for second balls, crosses – and this made it comfortable for the style of the players who came inside.
“Maybe Qatar will be a totally different game, but when you have a good group, players with different characteristics, you can change the pieces. In UAE, we have that.”
The national team face Qatar in the last game of the play-off on Tuesday at the same venue. If they avoid defeat, they will qualify directly for the World Cup.
“We need to celebrate [the win against Oman] but it is not over,” said midfielder Gimenez, who was making his competitive debut for the UAE. “We have one more game, and we want to give everything for the country.”
