Guilherme Bala made an immediate impact on his UAE debut and exorcised a ghost in the process.
The Shabab Al Ahli forward scored three minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute in the Arabian Gulf Cup group match against Bahrain.
It set the national team up for a 3-0 win that clinched their place in the semi-finals with their last group match, against Qatar on Wednesday, still to play.
Bala’s elevation to national team duty has been keenly anticipated for some time now.
The 25-year-old winger has been a sensation in UAE domestic football since arriving from lower-division football in Brazil in 2021.
The fact he made an impression straight after being introduced by Zlatko Dalic just past the hour mark will have surprised few observers of the UAE Pro League.
His strike at Jeddah's Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium carried much personal significance, too.
It was in the same net in which he had suffered the most high-profile disappointment of his career to date.
Back in April, Bala appeared to have earned Shabab Al Ahli a shot at reaching Asia’s biggest club fixture.
He fired in a 25-yard strike to equalise the scores against Japan’s Machida Zelvia in the semi-final of the AFC Champions League Elite.
It was then chalked off for the most egregious VAR decision, when Shabab Al Ahli were ruled to have taken a throw-in a split second before their opposition had completed a substitution.
His return to the same stadium five months later was a far happier occasion. Once he was introduced in the second half, he ran the tiring opposition defence ragged.
Until then, it had been a more workmanlike performance by the national team than in their spectacular opening win over Yemen.
It took till halfway through the first half for them to test Ebrahim Lutfalla, the Bahrain goalkeeper. Even that was a tame shot from distance by Nicolas Gimenez.
The Al Wasl playmaker had been the outstanding player in the opener, scoring two goals in the 4-0 win over Yemen.
Until Bala’s arrival, Gimenez was the most prominent attacking option from the off against Bahrain, too.
Shortly after that effort from distance, he saw another shot turned around the post by Lutfalla.
Bahrain struggled to clear the resultant corner. As the UAE attacked again, Ousmane Camara, the Sharjah striker who was making his first start, headed in from Yuri Cesar’s right-wing cross.
Cesar had also been a bright spark in the first game, which was his debut for the national team.
His qualification for the national team had also been much anticipated after years of him excelling alongside Bala for Shabab Al Ahli.
As such, it was alarming to see him depart the field in some distress just before half-time. He suffered a leg injury playing an innocuous pass. Now it seems unlikely he will play any further part in the tournament.
Despite that disappointment, the UAE continued to apply pressure after the break. Gimenez hit the bar from a cross by Marcos Meloni – who had been the source for his headed goal in the first game.
All that was just the precursor to the Bala show, though.
After Bala’s cameo disoriented the Bahrain defence, Ali Saleh added the gloss with the third goal. He earned it for himself and wandered through a big gap in the Bahrain defence before dinking a neat finish past Lutfalla.
The UAE top Group B on six points, level with Qatar. Wednesday's match will determine who progresses as group winners.
