A little over a week after the death of their father, the Rahimi brothers paid him the most fitting tribute by upstaging the great Cristiano Ronaldo on a sensational night in Al Ain.
Soufiane, 30, and Houssine Rahimi, 24, were always destined for a life in football. They grew up on site at Raja Club Athletic, the giant club in Casablanca to whom their father, Mohamed “Youaari” Rahimi was inextricably linked for over half a century.
The family lived in a modestly-sized house attached to the practice ground, which was given to him in his role as the club’s kitman.
Youaari once said it was his dream that one of his sons might grow up to play for Raja. They fulfilled that dream a number of times over; Soufiane and Houssine both represented the club with distinction, before later joining Al Ain. Another son, Amin, even took over his own job in charge of equipment.
Whether Rahimi Sr ever conjured up a dream as fanciful as what came to pass on Tuesday night is difficult to know.
From the off, his boys dominated Al Ain’s AFC Champions League Elite encounter with the galacticos of Al Nassr.
When Houssine scored the first of his two goals in the 4-0 rout, he scarcely celebrated and appeared to be close to tears.
After adding the second – a brilliant team goal involving smart interplay between Kaku and Matias Palacios – emotion had given way to jubilation.
Al Ain v Al Nassr - in pictures
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Houssine Rahimi after scoring Al Ain's first goal in their 4-0 Asian Champions League Elite win over Al Nassr at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Al Nassr captain Cristiano Ronaldo endured a miserable night in Al Ain. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Nassr's Samu Costa and Houssine Rahimi of Al Ain battle for possession. AFP -
Houssine Rahimi celebrates after scoring for Al Ain. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Sadio Mane of Al Nassr and Al Ain's Yahya Ben Khaleq battle for the ball. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo sees a late free-kick saved. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Houssine Rahimi celebrates with his Al Ain teammates after scoring. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Nassr's Samu Costa and Abdoul Karim Traore challenge for a header. AFP -
Al Nassr coach Ange Postecoglou saw his side fall to a heavy defeat. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Al Ain's Houssine Rahimi is shown a yellow card for a challenge on Inigo Martinez of Al Nassr. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Houssine Rahimi after scoring for Al Ain. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Al Nassr coach Ange Postecoglo, left, shakes hands with his Al Ain counterpart Vladimir Ivic. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
The Al Ain starting XI before the game. AFP -
The Al Nassr starting XI before the match. AFP -
The teams line-up before the match. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo warms-up before the game at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium. Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo before the AFC Champions League Elite match in Al Ain. Chris Whiteoak / The National
After elder brother Soufiane later added the third, it was time for Al Ain’s fans to start the party.
“My parents are the secret behind the success of Soufiane and me; I pray for my father and tell him that he left behind men,” Houssine said.
When the duo had returned from burying their father, Vladimir Ivic, had initially stood them down from UAE Pro League duties in sympathy.
But as the domestic double winners made their return to the Champions League stage, he paired them in attack – with dramatic effect.
“I am very impressed with both of them,” Ivic said. “First of all, we always speak about [being] very professional players with very good character; this is most important for me.
“[A father’s death] is a big thing for all of us. When something like that happens, you know it's not easy to come back directly.
“The reason they did not start the previous game in the championship is this because they arrived two days before the game.
“But they are they are serious. They know what they want, and they do everything to improve themselves and to improve the team. I'm very happy that I have both of them together with me.”
Ivic had said before the game that, while he respected the star-laden opposition, his side were confident of success against Ronaldo's Nassr.
Surely he could never have envisaged quite such a dominant display, though. Al Ain steamrolled their illustrious visitors, and could well have had many more goals.
Houssine hit the post in just the second minute, and later had an effort ruled out for offside. He acknowledged that, for all Nassr’s resources, Al Ain are used to success, too.
“As players of Al Ain, we just followed the instructions of our head coach,” Houssine said.
“He focuses all the time on us playing match by match, regardless of the team we are taking or facing, but with all due respect to all teams.
“We did not play on counter, or depend on counterattacks at all. We just applied the instructions and directions of our coach.
“Al Ain is familiar with titles. [The club has held] many titles and hopefully will show our worth during the games.”
