Abu Dhabi: It’s the morning after the night before and Abu Dhabi has risen with pride at the achievement of their local football team Al Jazira after the minnows gave the might of Real Madrid the scare of their lives on Wednesday.
Keeper Ali Khaseif played like a man possessed to save several attempts that prevented his side from being five or six goals down inside the first 20 minutes. And Real Madrid then had two goals disallowed from Benzema and Casemiro.
Romarinho’s already now legendary opener on 42 minutes up the other end shook the footballing world and it had seemed this wasn’t to be Real’s night when Mbark Bousoufa added another just after the interval.
Alas, it wasn’t to be, ruled offside and with order restored soon after, Khaseif walked off injured, Ronaldo pulled one back on 53 minutes before Bale got a winner with nine minutes to spare.
Many will be left thinking ‘what if’, as they wake dazed from a dream that was even stranger than fiction. But no-one can stay bitter for long as Al Jazira did their bit, took the reigning World and European champions the full distance, and gave themselves and UAE football the kind of publicity that money simply can’t buy.
No-one can now say the local hosts of this competition were just there to make up the numbers. And for years to come, folktales will be passed down around desert campfires about that night when Khaseif stopped the barrage of Los Blancos and Romarinho rocked the nets of Navas. ‘If only it could have ended after 50 minutes’ they will say, ‘if only Bousoufa’s goal would have stood’.
