Few Emirati football fans will forget the last time the UAE and Saudi Arabia met in the Gulf Cup semi-finals.
On a glorious day in Abu Dhabi, local hero Ismail Matar scored a stunning last-minute goal to send the UAE to the 2007 final at Zayed Sport City, where they beat Oman to claim their first title.
But perhaps more prominent in the minds of many fans, and several players, is a more-recent, less-glorious semi-final between an Emirati team and a Saudi one; September’s Asian Champions League last-four match between Al Ain and Al Hilal at King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, scene of tonight’s meeting.
Omar Abdulrahman certainly will not have forgotten.
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The UAE’s star man, in superb form in the past two matches against Kuwait and Iraq, endured one of the worst nights of his career as the Saudi club beat Al Ain 3-0 to effectively decide the tie before the second leg.
To make matters worse, Abdulrahman was substituted in the second half and had to endure criticism for his defensive performance that day.
He, alongside brother Mohammed Abdulrahman and the rest of the UAE’s Al Ain contingent, will be keen to banish that memory on Sunday night. They will never have a better opportunity.
The Saudis have hardly set the competition alight, despite finishing top of the weaker of the competition’s two groups. Still, there is no question that at home they remain a formidable opponent.
The ever meticulous UAE manager Mahdi Ali will already be looking for weaknesses to exploit.
He will know that the UAE’s form has been superior to the hosts, with Omar Abdulrahman and Ali Mabkhout, top scorer with four goals, arguably the competition’s two best players so far.
With only Amer Abdulrahman on the injured list, the 50-year-old manager has a unified, confident group of players raring to retain their title.
Also, while Al Hilal were cheered on by a boisterous capacity crowd against Al Ain, the Saudi fans have inexplicably shunned their team at the 22nd Gulf Cup. It remains to be seen if they will finally turn up tonight, but, either way, Mahdi Ali will not be losing much sleep over that.
As he said on Thursday, the UAE have played in front of bigger crowds, at the 2012 Olympics and against South Korea.
He also does not care much for Al Ain’s comprehensive defeat against Al Hilal. The 2007 win, too, will have little bearing on tonight’s showdown.
Last week Mahdi Ali, ever the pragmatist, said that Kuwait’s unsurpassed record in the Gulf Cup would mean little on the pitch in 2014. He was proved right in spectacular fashion.
History means little to Mahdi Ali, whether it is in favour of his team or not.
As he has said time and again, it is only the present that counts – and the present is there for the taking for the UAE.
Five unforgetable encounters between the UAE and Saudi Arabia
1972, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia 4-0 UAE
Where it all began. The UAE’s first match against Saudi Arabia in the Gulf Cup and the second international in their history, just over four months after the unification of the Emirates was signed.
1982, UAE
UAE 1-0 Saudi Arabia
The first UAE win over Saudi came at the first Gulf Cup held in the UAE. It gave the UAE maximum points from two matches and briefly put them top of the table. Eventually they finished third.
1986, Bahrain
Saudi Arabia 0-2 UAE
A notable victory for the UAE against Saudi, sandwiched between their opponents’ two AFC Asian Cup triumphs in 1984 and 1988. The UAE finished second behind Iraq, with Saudi finishing third.
1988, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia 2-2 UAE
One of the Gulf Cup’s most famous matches. The UAE led 2-0 at half-time thanks to Zuhair Bakheet’s double, but the Saudis came storming back to level in front of a big crowd at King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh.
2007, UAE
UAE 1-0 Saudi Arabia
Ismail Matar’s last minute winner in the semi-final is still one of UAE football’s most cherished moments. Having reached the final for the first time, the UAE claimed their first title a few days later, Matar scoring the winner again, this time against Oman in a 1-0 win.
akhaled@thenational.ae
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