The path to one of the most significant matches in the history of UAE club football became clearer yesterday in Zurich as the draw was made for the 2010 Club World Cup, to be held in Abu Dhabi in December.
If Al Wahda, the Pro League champions, can progress past the lightly regarded Oceania representatives Hekari United from Papua New Guinea in the tournament's preliminary match, on December 8, the Abu Dhabi club would meet the Asian champions, either Iran's Zob Ahan or Seongham Ilhwa Chunma of South Korea, in the quarter-finals three days later.
The prize awaiting the winners of the match is the chance to face Inter Milan, the European champions who boast superstars such as Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o, Dutchman Wesley Sneijder and Diego Milito of Argentina, in a semi-final match on December 15 which is likely to be watched by tens of millions of football fans around the world.
The draw yesterday at Fifa's headquarters in Switzerland was a short and simple affair, the extraction of three balls from a bowl to place the champions of North and Central America (Concacaf), Africa and Asia into quarter-final slots for Fifa's premier club competition, which takes place from December 8 to 18.
In the other quarter-final, Pachuca of Mexico, the Concacaf champions, will meet the champions of Africa, either Esperance of Tunisia or the Democratic Republic of Congo's TP Mazembe, who played in the tournament last year, going out at the quarter-final stage after a 2-1 defeat to South Korea's Pohang Steelers.
The winners will advance to face the Brazilian side Internacional, winners of the Copa Libertadores, which is the South American equivalent of Europe's Champions League.
Internacional will bring with them some familiar faces - Celso Roth, the coach, was in charge of Dubai's Al Ahli in 1994, while striker Rafael Sobis, once the UAE's most expensive player, is on a year-long loan at the club from Wahda's city rivals Al Jazira.
Officials of the Football Association (FA) are keen to see Wahda matched with Inter in what would be the highest-profile game ever played by a domestic club.
Mohammed Khalfan al Rumaithi, the president of the FA, was bitterly disappointed last year, during the first staging of the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, when Al Ahli, the 2009 Pro League champions, crashed out 2-0 in the preliminary round against Auckland City, an amateur side from New Zealand.
The UAE was represented at the draw by Saeed Adbulghafar, vice president of the FA.
John Lickrish, the general manager of the Abu Dhabi local organising committee, was also at the event.
No UAE football officials were made available to the media yesterday because an official period of mourning began after the death of Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Ruler of Ras al Khaimah.
In Zurich, Abdulghafar said: "We are happy to have Abu Dhabi welcome the world once again.
"This tournament will be no better way to complete an exciting year for football, after the World Cup, with the Fifa Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi."
He promised that football would be "just one element" of a "hugely exciting programme".
The Asian champions will be determined in the final of the Asian Champions League in Tokyo on November 14.
The African Champions League final is a two-legged affair, with TP Mazembe at home in Lubumbashi in the first match, on Sunday, and Esperance at home in Tunis on November 13.
