It would be one of the oddest job descriptions in world football.
“Wanted: Elite playmaker to fascinate fans, exhilarate teammates and frustrate opponents. Must be available for international tournaments. Club appearances optional.”
Seven weeks to the day that Omar Abdulrahman last played a football match, for the UAE in the Gulf Cup of Nations semi-finals, he returned in time for the country's Asian Cup opener, versus Qatar.
The result? More of what we have come to expect from the national side when they include the slight young man with the big hair: a fast, open, joyful exhibition of football that unites entertainment value with scoring prowess.
It was as if Omar and Mahdi Ali’s attack-minded Emiratis opened a window to allow fresh air into a tournament in danger of turning stale after Australia’s opening victory by the same 4-1 score.
Never before had the UAE scored four goals in an Asian Cup match or won by three goals. Never before had they or their fans had so much fun at the continent’s headline event.
It was not only Omar. Ahmed Kahlil did what he often does: become prolific while wearing the national kit. He scored two, as did Ali Mabkhout, but three of those four were easy and could in part be traced to the midfielder we had not seen since November 23.
That had been the greatest unknown, ahead of the Qatar match: would Omar play?
For two weeks, some of us had been like intelligence agents from another era, poring over photos from the UAE camp in Australia, looking for the convalescing No 10.
December 24: “Yes, that is Omar, but he is walking and may be wincing.”
December 28: “There he is and he appears to be jogging lightly.”
January 2: “We see every outfield player in the team in these photos, aside for Omar.”
Not until the match in Canberra kicked off yesterday did we see him in a full-blooded scrum. Al Ain missed him for six league matches, but for the national team it was like he had never been away.
His pace might have been a bit off but the rest of his game showed no signs of rust. The steady search for teammates breaking into space. Balls popped over defenders and into the area. Back-heel passes. Preternatural skill at controlling the ball in crowds and sending it forward to a teammate.
Of tactical interest was the space Qatar gave him. He was jostled rarely and only once was he chopped down with something that approached spite, by Ahmed Abdul Maqsoud, a moment when a half-dozen Emiratis rushed to the scene, glaring at the Qataris and shoving.
Qatar’s tactics were sporting but perhaps insufficiently cynical. Some suspected, or feared, that Saudi Arabia had shown how to deal with the threat that is Omar by attacking him relentlessly, in Riyadh. They went at his legs again and again, and he limped off in the 27th minute. Surgery was mooted.
Once the UAE took the lead, on Khalil’s shot inside the far post, many expected the team’s creator would be taken off.
But Mahdi Ali left Omar on the pitch and he did a full 90 minutes. Had he come off we would have missed the joy of Omar and Mabkhout celebrating their back-and-forth passing ahead of the final goal.
Mahdi Ali’s team does not live or die with Omar Abdulrahman.
They erased a 2-0 deficit without him against Saudi Arabia seven weeks ago, but they are better and more compelling when he is on the pitch.
Let us hope he can get through this tournament unscathed and perhaps even play a match for his club, though the job description does not require it.
poberjuerge@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
UAE and Russia in numbers
UAE-Russia ties stretch back 48 years
Trade between the UAE and Russia reached Dh12.5 bn in 2018
More than 3,000 Russian companies are registered in the UAE
Around 40,000 Russians live in the UAE
The number of Russian tourists travelling to the UAE will increase to 12 percent to reach 1.6 million in 2023
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
Company%20Profile
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Blah
Started: 2018
Founder: Aliyah Al Abbar and Hend Al Marri
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and talent management
Initial investment: Dh20,000
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 40
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5