December 24, 2022
The UAE First Football League was founded in 1973 and currently consists of 14 sides who play each other home and away for a 26 game season. For sponsorship reasons it is also known as the ADNOC Pro League.
With a cross-over with the timing of the Asian Football Championships, Al-Ain as champions in 2021/22 have qualified directly to the 2023/24 AFC Champions League Group stage, whereas this season’s champions will qualify for the play-off rounds. Sharjah won the UAE President’s Cup and so also qualified for the play-off rounds. The bottom two sides are relegated to the UAE First Division.
The UAE consists of 7 Emirates, five of which have sides in the Pro League, with only Ras-al-Khaimah and Umm-al-Quwain not represented. Abu Dhabi are represented by 5 sides, with four from Sharjah, three from Dubai, and one each from Fujairah and Ajman.
Today’s match was an encounter between the two most successful sides in the history of the UAE league, as Al-Ain had won the title 14 times, whilst Al Wasl had 7 titles to their name.
Al-Ain is a desert city located around 150 kilometres south-west of Dubai, which is approximately a 90 minute drive. It is part of the Abu Dhabi emirate and the fourth largest city in the UAE, with a population of around 850,000. It is known as “The Garden City” due to the city oases.
I visited Al-Ain during my first ever visit to the UAE in 1999, when I was able to persuade Mrs Fatbear to hire a car and drive into the desert to watch two matches in the 2000 Asian Cup Qualifiers. After a very pleasant lunch we headed off to the 15,000 capacity Tahnoun bin Mohamad Stadium where the first match of the day was Uzbekistan vs Bangladesh. With our European appearance, the staff tried to push us to the open cover Uzbek end behind the goal, but we brushed past any attempts to that direction to sit in the virtually empty main stand.
With the Uzbekistan side including Dynamo Kiev’s Maksim Shatskish they coasted to a 6-0 victory before the evening’s main event of UAE vs India. The opposite stand, which had been full of Bangladeshis, was now full with ex-patriot Indian supporters, whilst the rest of the ground was packed with UAE fans. Except for a couple of seats either side of us.
At first, we thought it was nice that we had some space, until we realized that none of the locals wanted to sit next to us, presumably because there was a woman in the stand. When I looked around, there was only one other lady in the whole stand, who given the deferential treatment was presumably either a Princess or a member of the local royal family.
Eventually, one brave local lad came to sit next to me and we had an enjoyable conversation during the rest of the game. After India took a first half lead thanks to the legendary I.M Vijayan, the home side looked like suffering an embarrassing defeat, but with 25 minutes remaining a substitute scored twice and the UAE eventually ran out 3-1 winners.
Our friend advised that substitute Saaed Al Kaas, who score the UAE’s first two goals, was actually playing for Second Division Sharjah, and the coach clearly had decided to give up playing pretty passing football to launch the ball forwards to put the Indian defence under pressure. It worked !
Our happiness from an enjoyable day watching the day’s football was spoilt when just after leaving the stadium, some teenagers leaning over the wall inside the ground started throwing empty Coca-Cola cans at my wife, presumably on the basis that she was a woman. We quickly hurried to where our car was parked and sped back to Dubai, but it was an interesting insight into the mentality in the UAE.
Al-Ain now play in the recently built 25,000 capacity Hazza bin Zayed Stadium and went into today’s fixture in a surprisingly lowly 7th place with a 5-3-3 record. In their last match they were held to a 2-2 home draw by Bani Yas with ex-West Ham, Borussia Dortmund and Dynamo Kiev Ukrainian forward Andriy Yarmolenko one of their scorers. However, Yarmolenko was on the bench today.
Al-Ain’s coach is ex-West-Ham, Tottenham & Dynamo Kiev Ukrainian striker Sergei Rebrov, whilst their foreign players include Moroccan winger/forward Soufiane Rahimi ( 6 caps, but missed out on their final squad for the World Cup ), Moroccan midfielder El Mehdi El Moubarik, Togolese forward Kodjo Laba ( 41 caps ) and three journeymen Brazilians ( defenders Pereira and Erik, and attacking midfielder Jonathan Santos ).
Keeper Khalid Eisa has made 61 appearances for the UAE, full-back and captain Bandar Mohammad has 33 caps whilst the unfortunately named Ahmed Barman has 16 caps. Young centre-back Kouame Kouadio was born in the Ivory Coast, but is a naturalised UAE citizen.
Dubai based Al-Wasl play in the 18,000 Zabeel Stadium and started the day in fourth place with a 6-3-2 record. Last time out they lost 1-2 to league leaders Shabab Al Ahli in a Dubai derby. Their coach is ex-Barcelona, Tenerife and Porto Argentinian Juan Antonio Pizzi and their foreigners include ex-Toronto & Chicago Fire Brazilian striker Gilberto, Serbian centre-back Aleksandar Vasiljevic, Moroccan centre-back Soufiane Bouftini ( 8 caps ), , ex-Metz Argentinian midfielder Geronimo Poblete and ex-Racing Argentinian winger Tomas Chancalay.
Naturalised Brazilian Lima has won 17 caps for the UAE, whilst fellow midfielders Hassan Ibrahim ( 5 caps ) and Ali Saleh ( 13 caps ) have also represented UAE.
Brazilian winger Gabrielzinho, French/Algerian Oussama Amar and Malian midfielder Siaka Sidibe were amongst the Al-Wasl substitutes.
A number of famous names are currently plying their trade in the UAE Pro league including amongst others ex-Manchester City and Sunderland Belgian defender Jason Denayer at Shabab Al Ahli, ex-Barcelona, Dortmund and Valencia striker Paco Alcacer at Sharjah, ex-QPR, Fulham and Benfica midfield Adel Taarabt, ex-Shakhtyor Soligorsk Gambian striker Dembo Darboe at Al Nasr, and ex-FCSB Romanian forward Florian Tanase at Al Jazera.
Tickets for the game ranged from $6 for the family and women’s stand, $7 to $21 for general admittance, and $70 for the VIP enclosure. Temperatures at the 19.30 local kick-off time were 25 degrees.
Bet365.com, who live streamed the match, made Al-Ain 11/20 favourites, whilst Al Wasl were 7/2 to win, with the draw also at 7/2.
Al Ain, whose nickname is Al Zaeem or The Boss, were in a white strip with faint purple chevrons on the front and with purple trims. Al Wasl, who are sometimes referred to as the Cheetahs, were playing in all yellow. The names of the players were below their numbers on the back of their shirts and written in Roman letters, as were the sponsor’s names on the shirt fronts.
The grass pitch looked in good condition, and was watered at half-time, and the score graphic on the screen altered from Arabic to Roman script, but with the home side on the right-hand side as per Arabic writing.
A decent number of away fans, perhaps 200-300, had made the journey to support Al Wasl and were congregated behind one of the goals, and they possessed a large “Ultras On Tour” banner.
Al Ain had the better of the early exchanges without creating anything, but they opened the scoring in the 8th minute. Full-back Mohammed played in Rahimi who crossed hard and low from close to the by-line. With Bouftini and Vasiljevic ball watching, Laba evaded them both to slide in to score from two yards out.
The lead was nearly doubled two minutes later when Al Wasl left back Khalil played a shocking pass across the field which Laba chest controlled, and then steered just wide from the edge of the area.
However, Al Ain quickly returned the favour, with Barman serving up a sloppy pass enabling Chancalay to shoot wide from 20 yards. Al Ain centre-back Pereira was shown the first yellow card for a late tackle and the aggrieved Pereira tried to get his own back a few moments later with a dramatic fall after a slight touch, but as a start of things to come, referee Adel Al Naqbi allowed play to continue, and when the move reached the Al Wasl penalty area, Laba turned but shot several yards wide.
With the referee playing advantage after a foul on Barman a few yards outside the area, Rahimi drilled a low cross-cum-shot from a tight angle, but keeper Al Senani was able to push area to safety.
One feature of the match was the constant attempts by both sides to try and con the referee into giving free-kicks. The next poor attempt at this occurred in the 16th minute when Al Ain Brazilian face-mask wearing and dyed blonde left-back Erik fell to the floor in a pathetic fashion, and when Al Wasl’s Lima tried to pick him up from the floor, several players on both sides unnecessarily got involved to start a melee.
Al Ain were looking impressive, with the lively Rahimi and Mohammad, who had hitched up his shorts in a very 1980’s fashion, combining well down the right, and when concentrating on playing football, Erik was getting into good positions on the left and looked a decent player. Rahimi created a half-chance for Laba after a good run but Vasiljevic’s outstretched foot was enough to put the ball wide for a corner.
Al Wasl temporarily won some breathing space, and a free-kick from Saleh was met by Ibrahim’s glancing header but the ball went across the face of the goal for a goal-kick. Play was then held up for three to four minutes when Ibrahim received an accidental knee in the back which looked quite painful, and when play resumed, the visitors again created a half-chance when a dummy from Saleh put Lima in space, but Lima dithered and allowed a defender to get close enough to block the eventual shot for a corner.
The Al Wasl corner was headed away, and Santos launched a quick counter-attack, skipping past his marker to run clear down the right wing. With a covering defender starting to get close as he approached the Al Wasl penalty area, Santos’ attempt to find the unmarked Laba was poor, with the ball going behind the Togolese striker, and although Al Balochi picked up the loose ball, his effort on goal was weak and straight at Al Senani.
Out of the blue, Al Wasl grabbed an equaliser in the 32nd minute. Al Ain defender Kouadio ran out of defence but collided with Poblete. Many referees would have given a foul but the ball fell kindly to Gilberto, who played a skilful pass with the outside of his right foot to the unmarked Lima, whose shot from 15 yards across goal nestled just inside the opposite post.
Al Wasl were now on the front foot and from a ball down the right-hand channel, Gilberto’s back-heel gave Chancalay the chance to run across the penalty area until Saleh took the ball off his toes to go for goal himself, but his low shot was held by keeper Khalid Eisa.
Erik then went on another surging run for Al Ain and his deflected cross was met by Laba on the stretch under pressure from Vasiljevic, but again the Serb was able to do enough to concede a corner. When Santos was hauled to the floor close to the by-line, Erik took the free-kick but his in-swinging left-footed effort was pushed over the bar by the keeper on his line.
A minute later a cross from the left by Erik was met by the leaping Laba, but the powerful downward header from 10 yards went just wide.
The game’s biggest moment of controversy occurred in the 44th minute. Ibrahim and Erik challenged for the ball near half-way and although Erik won the ball, he took two steps and then theatrically fell over. Referee Al Naqbi immediately produced the card, and the TV replay showed Ibrahim had made contact with Erik’s ankle. However, there is VAR in the UAE Pro League, and the referee was requested to take a look at the pitch-side monitor. After reviewing for around 30 seconds, the referee reversed his original decision and instead showed a yellow card to Ibrahim.
In an echo from the World Cup in nearby Qatar, 8 minutes were added to the first half. There was still time for Erik to continue playing the pantomime villain, climbing all over Lima and then being sent somersaulting to the floor and incredibly winning the free-kick, and in the next play he sent Lima flying, although the referee saw nothing wrong with it !
However, referee Al Naqbi did take offence to a foul by Al Wasl’s Bouftini on Rahimi, although the Moroccan did make a meal of the contact.
The scores were level at half-time, but with 54% of possession and most of the attacking play, the home side would have been disappointed to have not been in the lead.
The referee played another good advantage two minutes into the second half. Although Rahimi had been fouled by substitute Abdulrahman Salah, Santos sprinted down the right-wing but his low cross just evaded Laba to be claimed by the Al Wasl keeper. The ref subsequently showed the yellow card to Salah when the ball next went out of play.
Al Ain then struggled to make much of impression until another good advantage from the man-in-black. Despite being fouled, Santos managed to maintain his balance and good inter-passing play with Rahimi put the Moroccan clear, but once inside the penalty area he went to ground, but the referee ignored the appeals. Indeed the ratio of fouls awarded per falls to the floor must have been remarkably low !
Rahimi and Santos then combined again in the 59th minute when a nice flick from Santos found Rahimi in space but no attacker was on hand to finish the low cross inside the 6 yard box.
Al Wasl then came back into the game a little. First, Lima managed to chase a long ball and stop it from going out for a goal-kick, but his lay back to Ali Saleh was put well wide, and then Chancalay teed up Lima but his left-footed shot from the edge of the area was easily saved.
The worst piece of acting in the match occurred in the 64th minute. Bouftini stooped to make a header, and although Al Balochi’s foot was raised dangerously, it missed Bouftini’s head by a couple of feet, but that didn’t prevent the Al Wasl defender collapsing to the floor holding his head. The referee correctly awarded the free-kick for dangerous play, but took no further sanction against Al Balochi.
The rough stuff continued as an aerial challenge between Erik and Ibrahim left Ibrahim crumpled in a heap on the floor, although the referee didn’t see anything wrong and waved play on.
With 69 minutes on the clock, Rahimi came close with a spectacular overhead kick after chest controlling Laba’s header back across goal, but his effort went a couple of feet wide of the post. Al Ain introduced Yarmolenko in the 70th minute, and although the Ukrainian sprayed a few nice passes around he wasn’t able to make much of an impact. Erik sent another decent cross into the danger zone, but Laba failed to make a decent contact and the ball slid off his head and a few feet wide.
Rahimi then looked to have been fouled just outside the Al Wasl area but it was perhaps a case of crying wolf too often as again the referee failed to blow his whistle. The home side continued to press and Canedo had a header cleared off the line by the defender on the post.
Lima almost snatched an unlikely winner for the Cheetahs eight minutes from time, curling a 25 yard left-footed effort towards the top corner, but the diving Khalid Eisa manage to get an outstretched right hand to tip the ball onto the bar and over for a corner, and an outstanding save.
With 6 minutes added on to the second half, the final chance of the match went to Al Wasl. Ali Saleh jumped over an attempted tackle from Erik, then cut back inside to shoot, but his effort hit the back of Moubarik and then hacked away by Pereira to safety before any Al Wasl forward could capitalise.
At the final whistle, Al Ain had 58% of possession and whilst looking a good side going forward they were nearly caught out near the end. Overall, it was a good quality match, played in a high tempo and with good levels of skill. It was fortunate that the referee had an excellent game and allowed the game to flow, as with a different official there could have been far too many fouls given and the match could have been stop-start and struggling to attain any rhythm.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyGkUnTPJ28
Al Ain : Khalid Eisa – Mohammad, Pereira, Kouadio, Erik – Rahimi, Al Balochi ( Canedo ), Moubarik, Barman ( Waleed ), Santos ( Yarmolenko ) – Laba
Al Wasl : Al Senani – Al-Azizi ( Gabrielzinho ), Bouftini, Vasiljevic, Khalil ( A.R. Saleh ) – Chancalay, Poblete, Lima, Ibrahim, A.Salah – Gilberto ( Sidibe )
Amazingly detailed report!
ReplyDeleteThank you !
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