The portents did not bode well as the packed flights from Abu Dhabi and Dubai landed in a lashing rainstorm.
Several hours later, the Emirati fans who had made their way to Riyadh for the Gulf Cup of Nations semi-final against hosts Saudi Arabia would find themselves in the middle of different kind of storm.
The rain flooded Riyadh’s roads and the traffic came to a standstill.
Photo gallery: UAE go down fighting to Saudi Arabia in Gulf Cup of Nations semi-finals
There was doubt that the matches be played at all, let alone how the dismal weather would affect crowd numbers.
Throughout the first match, the semi-final between Oman and Qatar, the Saudi support was building in the stands, but there was little sign of the Emiratis.
Then, with under an hour before the start of the second match, the UAE contingent showed up to the party.
The electronic scoreboard at King Fahd International Stadium said “Ahlan wa sahlan”. Welcome. The home supporters greeted them with a persistent wall of noise.
They set about unfurling several huge UAE flags and a banner bearing the portraits of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
“We are with the whites,” the banner read, referring to the national side’s nickname.
The national anthem was sung loudly, the team facing their fans; the red, white, green and black scarves aloft. It took 19 minutes for the night to turn grim.
Helped by some woeful defending, Nasser Al Shamrani and Nawaf Al Abed, the men who had tormented Al Ain in the AFC Champions League semi-finals with Al Hilal, struck minutes apart. Half the stadium was in dreamland.
It got worse. Omar Abdulrahman, the UAE’s golden boy and best player at Khaleeji 22, limped out of the match and the UAE were seemingly skulking out of the tournament.
It would turn to belief with Ahmed Khalil’s goal on 53 minutes. The UAE had been written off too early; this group, as Mahdi Ali insists on calling them, does not give up at half-time. “Amoory” may have had to leave the pitch, but the UAE still had two Abdulrahmans playing and Mohammed and Amer were leading a heroic fightback.
They were not going out with a whimper – the UAE players, and their fans, were giving it their all.
With 10 minutes left, two of the UAE’s previous Gulf Cup heroes combined to devastating effect. Ismail Matar, to the utterly transformed Khalil, 2-2.
Suddenly, the Emiratis felt in control and a comeback for the ages looked on.
Then came Salem Al Dosari’s late, late strike. The UAE’s defence had proven their downfall. Not for the first time in the night, the UAE fans were left stunned.
At the final whistle, the players sank to their knees, devastated. The Emirati supporters willed them up. The night may have ended in heartbreak, but both players and fans know there is no time for self pity. Bigger battles lie ahead, in Australia in January, at the Asian Cup.
akhaled@thenational.ae
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