The UAE were outplayed in the final of the Arabian Gulf Cup by hosts Saudi Arabia in Jeddah on Tuesday night, but new UAE coach Zlatko Dalic was still able to reflect on a positive first assignment.
The former Croatia manager saw his new charges succumb to early goals from Hammam Al Hammami and Feras Albrikan, as Saudi Arabia emerged deserving winners.
The eight-team regional tournament stirs high passions – as shown by ugly skirmishes between fans and players, plus UAE captain Khalid Essa’s reaction to jeers during the national anthem.
But Dalic has been brought in with a view to bringing success on a broader scale than a local stoush.
The next significant challenge is rapidly heading into view. The Asian Cup, which will also be staged in Saudi Arabia, starts in January. Under Dalic’s guidance, it is hoped the UAE will go deep in that competition.
Looking ahead to the first game in that, against Palestine in Riyadh on January 7, here is what he will have learnt from the Gulf Cup.
Problem of plenty
In terms of talent, there is plenty to work with. The pool of players available for Dalic has been expanded by naturalisation.
There might be even more outstanding UAE Pro League players who are becoming eligible before the Asian Cup.
That is a double-edged sword. For some while now, it has been unclear what the best XI is for the national team.
The side might look good in one international window, but then by the next there could be two or three more players eligible for selection who dilute what went before.
At the Gulf Cup, for example, Dalic handed out a number of debuts to players who now look inked into the best XI. Players like Yuri Cesar, Mamadou Coulibaly, Ousmane Camara and Guilherme Bala.
But even they might not be guaranteed starters if the likes of Matias Palacios, the Al Ain schemer, and Federico Cartabia, Shabab Al Ahli’s playmaker, are available.
Tactical flexibility
What the deeper player pool does allow for is tactical flexibility.
The two early goals in the final against Saudi Arabia meant the game had gone by the time Dalic was able to respond effectively.
But his substitutions did show how personnel changes can rectify issues. Al Hammami, the jet-heeled Saudi left-winger, was the difference between the two sides in the first half of the final.
Marcos Meloni, the right back who has been a key figure under successive UAE coaches, could not keep up.
Dalic responded by switching Ruben Canedo – the left back who, like Al Hammami, is diminutive but fast – to the right, and bringing on the powerful Richard Akonnor to play on the left.
Not that the UAE were able to overturn the deficit, but at least they were able to regain parity in terms of the run of play.
Ice on the mind
Dalic reasoned – logically – that it was the nightmare start which cost the UAE. “The first goal and second goal killed us,” he said.
“I told my players when we were preparing for the game, the first 20 minutes will be the key to the game; please be careful, be patient and focused. We cannot concede a goal.
“After conceding two, it is not easy to come back into the game.”
His team had looked spooked by the frenzied atmosphere inside the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium.
The official attendance was touching 63,000, and by the way all the gangways were filled, there might even have been a few more in than that. An impressive chunk of that – around 12,000 – were travelling UAE supporters.
Both sets of players were amped by the atmosphere, but it was the home side who kept their cool the best.
That is an issue because it is a recurring one for the UAE. When World Cup qualification was on the line in Doha last year, amid a similarly wild atmosphere in Doha, the players were also distracted, and lost out as a result.
It is difficult to think how the Gulf Cup could have gone any better for Saudi Arabia. They won the title – for the first time in 25 years – without conceding a goal. Even before the final, Dalic pointed out they were the best side in it.
They looked like a side transformed from that which had traipsed out of the World Cup in North America in the summer without landing a punch.
They were without their talisman, Salem Al Dawsari, and yet his replacement, Al Hammami, announced himself as a real attacking threat.
For Georgios Donis, it was validation. He had only been appointed as coach at short notice before the World Cup.
To judge him on that would have been unfair. The Gulf Cup was a greater reflection of his worth, and he is already excited about what they can do at the Asian Cup.
“There are players who played a lot of minutes over two weeks, and we delivered a great performance and deserve this achievement,” Donis said.
“I'm happy with what we've accomplished, and now we'll start focusing on the Asian Cup.”
