Qatar World Cup 2022: Emirati star of 1990 urges UAE to create history

In the UAE's 50th year, the country's current crop of footballing stars is embarking on a journey to create a piece of their own history. The UAE play Australia on Tuesday in a must-win play-off in Doha in the first of what they hope will be two matches to qualify for the 2022 World Cup . If they win against Australia, Peru await next week in Doha for a place at the World Cup that would finally emulate the team of 1990 – the first and only time the UAE have reached the finals. Abdulrahman Al Haddad, 55, who played at centre-back in that historic side, said it will be down to how the side plays on the day in what is the UAE's most important match in more than two decades. “I am optimistic but it all comes down to how well the team performs," he said. "I know that they are emotionally and mentally prepared but I don’t know how well they will play on the day.” The UAE secured their place in the play-offs with a 1-0 win against South Korea in March in Dubai, thanks to youngster Harib Abdallah’s second-half strike. It was only the second game in charge for Rodolfo Arruabarrena, the Argentine coach . Al Haddad said he hopes the team will continue to respond well to the new coach. “He was only recently appointed and I am not sure if they respond to him in such a short time,” he said. “It is a challenge and we have to reach the next level. It will require tremendous effort and team work.” The UAE’s qualification for the 1990 World Cup in Italy is still considered their greatest footballing achievement , which has been chronicled in the documentary The Lights of Roma [ Anwar Roma ]. The title of the documentary was inspired by a famous line delivered by Emirati commentator Adnan Hamad, who wept as he said: “I can see the lights of Rome from here” after the UAE secured the required 1-1 draw against South Korea in Singapore, which was enough for them to book their place at Italia 90. More than 30 years later, the circumstances are a little different in that they have to win two matches to qualify for the tournament in Qatar in November and December but the team in 1990 also had a late change in management. "I can't describe to you how we felt when we first heard that we qualified," Al Haddad said. "The overwhelming sense of pride and happiness is nothing I can put in words. We had tried before in '86 and had failed in the last few minutes when we lost the match so when we qualified in 1990, there was so much relief, pride and happiness. "We had the spirit and the enthusiasm but the circumstances were not in our favour at the time. We went with a management that was hired to temporarily be with the team. I don't think they expected that we would take them to the finals." Some Emirati fans are similarly cautious in their optimism but the prize of becoming history-makers again is making others believe this is their year. "There is no doubt that I, as an Emirati, would like to celebrate the UAE national team’s qualification for the World Cup, but the situation says that we have to go beyond the Australian team first and then the Peruvian team, and these tasks are not easy," said Emirati, Sultan Karrani. “On the other hand, the Australian team is a stubborn rival to the UAE team and the history of matches between the two teams testifies that the difference in goals in the event of winning and losing was not huge, and this makes it difficult for me to predict the final result for tomorrow’s match." Saeed Al Zubaidi, a mass communication student at Abu Dhabi University, strongly believes that the UAE will win. “In my opinion, I believe that the team is stronger and can qualify for the finals. We are all rooting for them and to us, they are winners regardless of the results,” he said. Rakan Alajami, 21, was similarly confident in the team and the new coach. “This is going to be a decisive match with heavy interventions," he said. "It will be held at 2pm which means it is going to be extremely hot and will require a lot of effort but we are fully confident in our players and their new coach. God willing, they will win.”

Qatar World Cup 2022: Emirati star of 1990 urges UAE to create history

Abdulrahman Al Haddad looks forward to must-win play-off against Australia in Doha on Tuesday