The UAE saw their bid to make the final of the Fifa Arab Cup ended by Morocco in Doha.
The national team’s march to the semi-final of the regional tournament had been uplifting.
It followed on from the heartbreak of missing out on next year’s World Cup after stoppage-time defeat to Iraq last month.
Cosmin Olaroiu, the UAE coach, had done well to raise spirits after that night in Basra. They had advanced at the expense of sides of the status of Egypt and Algeria to get within touching distance of the final.
But when it came to the last four meeting with Morocco, they were soundly beaten 3-0 by a country who have grown used to competing at the business end of major competitions in the recent past.
Morocco’s most renowned stars are absent from this tournament, with a view to the Africa Cup of Nations starting later this month. Even though it is essentially an A side, they still have an impressive squad in Qatar.
After all, this is a country who reached the semi-finals of the last World Cup – also in Qatar – as well as the Paris Olympics, while their Under 20s side recently won the World Cup in their age-group.
Despite those credentials, though, the UAE started confidently and fashioned a variety of chances at the start.
The best of them saw Bruno de Oliveira shoot straight at the keeper from the edge of the box, after a fast break through the middle by the UAE.
They were made to pay for passing up that chance almost immediately. Morocco attacked down their left flank, sent a cross into the box, where Karim El Berkaoui powered in a header.
Defending crosses like that has been a regular failing of this UAE side. Usually, that has been via set pieces. This time, Morocco had been clever enough to expose the lack of height of Ruben Canedo, the UAE left-back who was defending the far post, via open play.
El Berkaoui, who plays his club football in the UAE with Al Dhafra, celebrated his strike wildly.
Canedo did his best to make amends and nearly had the national team level just after the break. He found himself centrally placed in Morocco’s box, and with his less favoured right foot, bundled a shot towards the corner, but it was clawed away.
The UAE kept pressing. De Oliveira saw a header from a corner graze the crossbar.
For all the pressure, though, it felt as though Morocco could hit back at the other end at any point. They did so to kill the game with two precision strikes.
First, Abderrazak Hamdallah laid on a pass for Aschraf El Mahdioui to drill the second past Hamad Al Meqbaali in the UAE goal.
With UAE chasing the game in vain in stoppage time, Hamdallah was then the beneficiary from some smart interplay down the Morocco right.
Mohamed Boulacsout played the assist, and Hamdallah, the prolific striker for Saudi Pro league side Al Shabab, settled the contest.
