Sydney: Even in an Asian Cup quarter-final upset of champions Japan that relied more on grit than guile, UAE midfielder Omar Abdul Rahman still managed to contribute a moment of impudent skill to his country’s cause.
The 23-year-old, who has attracted the attention of European clubs with his performances in Australia, had precious few opportunities to show his creativity as the Emiratis faced a barrage of attacks from Japan in the 120 minutes of open play.
After extra time failed to break the 1-1 deadlock, though, Abdul Rahman stepped up to take his country’s first penalty in the shootout and set the tone for the 5-4 triumph.
In a situation that would leave many a young player overawed, Abdul Rahman showed no signs of nerves as he delicately chipped the ball over Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima in the style made famous by Czech Antonin Panenka nearly four decades earlier.
“It was a fantastic penalty,” coach Mahdi Ali told reporters. “I think this was good because it makes the goalkeeper’s motivation go down, and we saw after that he just stayed in the goal.
“We were very happy for this fantastic goal but I told him never to do it again because it made my heart stop,” Mahdi added to laughter.
That Omar made it through the 120 minutes against Japan was good news for Mahdi after his playmaker struggled with injury for much of the three months leading up to the Asian Cup.
Although the man nicknamed “Amoory” has become something of a cult figure at the Asian Cup for his languid skills, Mahdi had asked his team to display a different side to their game against Japan.
Determined not to suffer the same fate as they had against Iran in their last group game, where they were mugged by a stoppage-time goal, he asked for, and received, hard work and doggedness.
“We played a fantastic game against Iran but we lost the game,” he said.
“Today I told the players, ‘You don’t always have to play nice football to win the game. Sometimes you have to play with your heart, with your spirit’.
“Sometimes football is not fair, it was not fair for us against Iran, and today I think we deserved to reach the semi-final.”
Next up for the Emiratis is a trip up the New South Wales coast to Newcastle to take on the hosts in the semi-finals on Tuesday, the first time they have made the final four since 1996 on home soil.
“Of course winning against Japan will give the players more confidence for the next game,” Mahdi added.
“We fought for 120 minutes in this game. Playing against Australia in Australia will also be tough and we have only two days and Australia have three days.
“We’ll try to make a good recovery and do a good job in the next match.”
