A lone strike by Ousmane Camara was enough to send the UAE through to the Arabian Gulf Cup final after they beat Oman.
The national team will face Saudi Arabia in front of a likely capacity crowd of 60,000 in Jeddah on Tuesday night.
They were comfortably the better side in their semi-final against Oman, but they made hard work of securing victory, with Nicolas Gimenez seeing a second-half penalty saved.
“We did not play our best match and missed some chances, particularly the penalty, but the most important thing for us is qualifying for the final,” said UAE coach Zlatko Dalic.
“The match did not go as I expected, but my team and my players secured the win, and that is what matters most. I believe we can perform better, improve our style of play and create more chances. Our performance in the final will be better.”
The two teams should have been familiar with each other. Towards the end of last year, the UAE had beaten Oman to take themselves to the brink of World Cup qualification, at a tempestuous play-off in Doha.
In the 11 months since then, though, much has changed. Carlos Queiroz, the former Real Madrid boss who was in charge of Oman back then, has since left and coached Ghana at the World Cup.
And the UAE side have an altogether new identity. Their new coach, Dalic, was at the World Cup, too, with Croatia.
Only five players remained in the UAE line-up for that game against Oman in Qatar – after which neither side ultimately qualified for the World Cup.
Among the raft of new additions to the side for this fixture in Jeddah, Guilherme Bala was making his first start for the national team.
The Shabab Al Ahli winger had impressed in his two cameo appearances as a substitute so far in the Arab Cup. With a place in the final on the line, Dalic unleashed him from the start.
It was two of the other new recruits who combined to give the UAE the lead midway through the first half.
Mamadou Coulibaly, the Al Jazira midfielder, curled in a cross from the left, which Camara rose to head into the net.
Oman nearly levelled straight away, but Lucas Pimenta blocked Amjad Al Harthi’s shot on the line.
Other than that scare, the UAE looked comfortable against opponents who were 15 places below them in the Fifa rankings.
But the national team fell short of the standards they set at the start of the group stage.
They were rampant in the wins against Yemen and Bahrain that had sealed their place in the semi-finals with a game to spare.
Now, though, they were imprecise. They should have put the game beyond Oman at the start of the second half, but Bala’s shot hit the side netting.
He had been at full stretch to reach a cross from Marcos Meloni. Between Meloni and Gimenez in the build-up, the chance should have been far easier.
Oman were showing signs of falling apart, and moments later the UAE had a penalty when Luan Pereira was felled after being sent through by Bala.
Again, the UAE were profligate. Gimenez’s penalty was saved by Ibrahim Al Mukhaini, the Oman keeper.
While the game stayed at 1-0, there was always a risk Oman could strike back.
But the national team muddled through to give themselves a shot at winning a third Gulf Cup when they face Saudi Arabia on Tuesday night.
The tournament hosts booked their place in the final after defeating Qatar 3-2 on penalties following a goalless draw after extra time.
Neither side was able to find a breakthrough across 120 minutes, sending the contest to a penalty shootout.
Saudi Arabia held their nerve, with Abdullah Al Hamdan, Mohamed Kanno and Mukhtar Ali converting their penalties.
Hassan Tambakti and Firas Al Buraikan missed, but it was still enough to secure a 3-2 victory.
