Dusan Tadic said Al Wahda had helped UAE gain a measure of “revenge” by beating Qatar side Al Duhail.
The Abu Dhabi club were comprehensive 3-1 winners at Al Nahyan Stadium on Monday night, to maintain their unbeaten start in the AFC Champions League Elite.
It was just six days since the UAE had seen Qatar beat them to direct qualification for the World Cup amid acrimonious scenes in Doha.
Four of Al Wahda’s XI had also started for the national team in that game, which was marred by crowd violence as Qatar won 2-1.
Tadic, the Serbian playmaker who joined Wahda from Fenerbahce this season, said the rest of the players felt a responsibility to the country, too.
“You could feel with the guys that they wanted a kind of revenge,” Tadic said. “It was painful for them to lose against Qatar and that was extra [motivation] for them.
“When you are part of the team, part of the country, you need to be involved in their things. It is important what you are doing for that country. You are also representing them.”
The hostility between Wahda and Duhail was diluted slightly by the number of overseas stars present on either side. But it did seem as though the home team’s foreign players realised their duty to play a part.
Omar Khrbin, the Syrian captain of the home team, was central to it from the start, involving himself in several altercations with Duhail’s defenders.
After scoring the equaliser from the penalty spot, Khrbin held his finger to his lips to shush the away fans. That amounted to a princely total of eight supporters.
When Brahima Diarra scored Wahda’s second, after fine link up play with Tadic, there were loud chants of “UAE, UAE,” from the stands.
All through the game, the supporters waved as many UAE flags as Wahda ones. There were 7,632 there in total, a number that might have been far more but for the early 5.45pm kick off.
It also included supporters from other UAE clubs, who had come to try to help the UAE outfit against one representing Qatar.
The club programme has given the players little time to wallow in the disappointment of last Tuesday night in Doha.
This the second match since then for Wahda, who provided three-quarters of the defence – Ruben Canedo, Lucas Pimenta and Ala Zhir – for the national team against Qatar.
It was clear from their UAE Pro League match against Al Bataeh on Friday – so three days after the loss to Qatar – that emotions were still raw.
“We played today’s match with our minds on the national team’s match,” Zhir, the Wahda and UAE right-back, had said after the game against Bataeh. “We apologise to the people of the Emirates, and we will try to make up for it.”
Zhir appeared on the brink of tears when he spoke those words in his post-match TV interview.
He wears his feelings visibly: in the second half against Duhail, he accidentally hit a steward from close range when clearing a ball. He proceeded to hurdle the advertising boards and apologise to the steward.
Zhir scored the third goal against Duhail with a brilliant overhead kick. Immediately after it he stopped his own ecstatic run to celebrate abruptly when he noticed he was passing Edmilson Jr.
The Duhail winger had been a source of some aggravation for the UAE when he was on Qatar national team duty last week.
Whenever Edmilson touched the ball, Wahda’s supporters roared in derision. After the third goal went in, the jeers only amplified towards him, and Zhir stopped to celebrate his goal right next to him.
Caio Canedo, the forward who was the fourth of the Wahda starters from the UAE game against Qatar, got a rousing ovation from the fans when he was substituted in the second half.
“We knew it was going to be like this,” Canedo said. “This victory had a special taste against a Qatari team. Some days ago, they created this atmosphere with the UAE against Qatar.
“They defend their country, we defend ours, so today was good. It was good for Al Wahda, and good for the country.”
Given it was the fourth match in 10 days for Wahda’s UAE contingent, it was a fine result which kept them level on points with Al Ahli Saudi at the top of the league.
“Mentally and physically we are a little bit tired, because it was a hard loss,” Canedo said.
“We had a chance with the national team so of course everybody is a little bit shaky. We are happy. This is our job and we have to switch the keys as fast as possible. We got a good win against Al Bataeh and a good win against a strong side, Al Duhail.
“They came from a draw against the defending champions, Al Ahli. What we say is, here in our house, we set the rules. We are very happy for the victory which puts us in a very good situation in the Champions League.”
