Omar Abdulrahman took Al Ain’s last touch of this year’s Asian Champions League final, not his best on an evening where he was nowhere near that either, and then he covered his face with his shirt and sank to the turf.
The Al Ain captain, typically their leader in every sense of the word, had struggled against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and then struggled to keep his emotions in check, the “game of his life” evaporating into the Saturday desert night as the South Koreans disappeared with the title.
His brother, Mohammed Abdulrahman, was the first to arrive to console him. Then goalkeeper Khalid Essa. Then Amer Abdulrahman, an unused substitute, joined soon by members of the Al Ain backroom staff.
Finally, he was dragged to his feet in part by Choi Chul-soon, the Jeonbuk right-back-cum-defensive midfielder, his shadow throughout the two legs, the guy entrusted to man-mark Al Ain’s chief threat and thus stem the UAE side’s flow. It felt rather fitting, since Choi never strayed that far from Abdulrahman all evening.
More Asian Champions League final:
• Analysis: Big match nerves prove telling: Al Ain's wait for second Asian Champions League title goes on
• Match report: Al Ain 1-1 Jeonbuk (2-3 agg): Asian Champions League final heartbreak for UAE club
• Reaction: Al Ain 'played a fantastic game, we deserved to be champions', insists assistant manager
The Jeonbuk gameplan had worked perfectly, carried out with all the precision required to seal Asian club football’s premier prize. Choi stuck tight to Abdulrahman, restricted his output and reined in his obvious talent. Subsequently, the visitors rode off with the bounty.
That was supposed to be Abdulrahman. The match was billed as his crowning glory — he insinuated as much in Friday’s pre-match press conference — but instead it will represent his lowest ebb, for however long until Al Ain banish 13-plus years of hurt on the continent. The 2003 champions, not even their most celebrated son could deliver them a second trophy.
To be fair, he almost did not see past 12 minutes. It was then that Abdulrahman, already vexed by Choi’s dedication to his duty, stamped on his opponent’s foot, a retaliation to an earlier foul, perhaps even to a dual that stretched back into last week’s first leg in Jeonju.
From there, Abdulrahman failed to stamp his authority on the match. Until the final, the playmaker had shone, voted man of the match eight times in 12 Champions League appearances. But when he needed another standout display the most, when Al Ain needed it more than ever, Abdulrahman could not muster the magic. For once, the UAE’s golden boy lost his Midas touch.
It was not through lack of effort, but hassling and harrying rivals is usually left for lesser mortals. Abdulrahman is expected to sprinkle the stardust. He is expected, too, to be anointed Asian player of the year next week in Abu Dhabi, yet as he said last month to the Asian Football Confederation’s official magazine, the individual award matters not one iota without the collective reward to go with it. No Champions League title, no party.
Abdulrahman did take the podium at the conclusion, presented with the tournament’s MVP honours, but it provided little consolation. There was no accepting smile, no displaying the newly acquired hardware for the cameras. It conjured memories of Lionel Messi at the 2014 Fifa World Cup final; altogether different sphere of football, altogether similar feeling.
His loser’s medal never made it over his moptop mane, either, taken off and left to hang by his side as he slipped from the pitch before the Jeonbuk players strode onto the plinth and accepted the trophy. Instead, a tearful Abdulrahman exited stage left.
[ jmcauley@thenational.ae ]
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