United Arab Emirates 

← AFC qualification

Brazilian head coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, 45 at the start of UAE’s World Cup qualification campaign, had been at the helm for more than three years by January 1989. This was his second stint with a Gulf nation, as he’d previously been in charge of Kuwait, whom he’d led to the 1982 World Cup. He’d briefly managed his home country, in 1983, but other than his achievement with the Kuwaitis, his coaching pedigree was yet not too special. 

During 1988, United Arab Emirates had taken part both in the Gulf Cup and the Asian Cup. The former was a regional round-robin competition where UAE had finished second behind champions Iraq, while they had failed to make it beyond the group stage at the Asian Cup. Still, they were considered to be on the up as a footballing nation, and the appointment which they’d made of the Brazilian head coach had certainly helped them on their way. 

They had achieved these results in the 1988 tournaments: 

Gulf Cup (in Saudi Arabia)

3/3: Bahrain 2-0
5/3: Kuwait 1-0
8/3: Qatar 1-2
10/3: Iraq 0-0
13/3: Saudi Arabia 2-2
17/3: Oman 1-0

Asian Cup (in Qatar)

3/12: South Korea 0-1
5/12: Qatar 1-2
8/12: Iran 0-1
10/12: Japan 1-0

Possibly due to the disappointing results in the Asian Cup of Nations, the United Arab Emirates FA decided to replace their Brazilian head coach with another from the very same country: 67 year old Mário Zagallo. He had famously become the first person to win the World Cup both as a player and then as a manager, when he guided O Seleção to the 1970 title in Mexico, where they’d played some quite exquisite football, trouncing Italy 4-1 in the final. Zagallo was no stranger to life in the Middle East, having previously had managerial stints with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, as well as Saudi club side Al Hilal. He would lead UAE into the World Cup qualification, starting with the first group stage early in 1989. 

World Cup Qualification – First group stage

AFC – Group 3

Match 1
13.01.1989: Kuwait 3-2 United Arab Emirates
Goals: Bakheet (54′, 69′)
Line-up: Musabah – Obaid, K Ghanim, M Ghanim, I Meer, N Khamees, M Abdulrahman, Abdul Razaq, F Khamees, Juma’a, Bakheet

Match 2
20.01.1989: United Arab Emirates 5-0 Pakistan
Goals: Abdul Razaq (1′, 25′), K Ismail (64′), Abdulrahman (78′), Abdulaziz (85′)
Line-up: Musabah – Obaid, K Ghanim, M Ghanim, I Meer, N Khamees, M Abdulrahman, Abdul Razaq, F Khamees (Abdulaziz 68), K Ismail, Bakheet

Match 3
03.02.1989: United Arab Emirates 1-0 Kuwait
Goal: Al-Talyani (62′)
Line-up: Musabah – Obaid, K Ghanim, M Ghanim, I Meer, N Khamees, M Abdulrahman, Abdul Razaq, F Khamees, K Ismail, Bakheet (Al-Talyani 55)

Match 4
10.02.1989: Pakistan 1-4 United Arab Emirates
Goals: K Ismail (7′), Abdul Razaq (26′), Al-Talyani (27′), Abdulaziz (70′)
Line-up: Musabah – Obaid, K Ghanim, M Ghanim, I Meer, E Meer, Abdul Razaq, K Ismail, F Khamees (Juma’a h-t), Abdulaziz, Al-Talyani

1. United Arab Emirates 4 3 0 1 12-4 6
   2. Kuwait 4 3 0 1 6-3 6
   3. Pakistan 4 0 0 4 1-12 0

Final Group Stage

Match 1
12.10.1989: United Arab Emirates 0-0 North Korea
Line-up: Musabah – Obaid, K Ghanim, M Ghanim, I Meer, Ghuloum, M Abdulrahman, Abdul Razaq, F Abdulrahman (Juma’a 73), Bakheet (K Ismail 84), Al-Talyani

Match 2
17.10.1989: China 1-2 United Arab Emirates
Goals: K Ghanim (87′), Al-Talyani (88′)
Line-up: Musabah – Obaid, K Ghanim, M Ghanim, I Meer, N Khamees, M Abdulrahman, Abdul Razaq, Ghuloum, Al-Hadiyah, Al-Talyani

Match 3
21.10.1989: Saudi Arabia 0-0 United Arab Emirates
Line-up (4-4-2): Musabah – Obaid, K Ghanim, M Ghanim (c), I Meer – N Khamees, M Abdulrahman, Abdul Razaq (F Abdulrahman 84), Al-Shaibani – Juma’a, Al-Talyani
United Arab Emirates are perfectly happy to settle for a point against ten men opposition in a drab game in difficult conditions. They had a first half ‘goal’ ruled out for alledged handball against Juma’a, although it was difficult to verify. Undefeated in three is the bright spot for UAE. 

Match 4
24.10.1989: United Arab Emirates 1-1 Qatar
Goal: K Ghanim (20)
Line-up (4-4-2): Musabah – Obaid, M Ghanim (c), K Ghanim, I Meer – N Khamees, M Abdulrahman, Abdul Razaq, Al-Shaibani – Juma’a (F Khamees 37), Al-Talyani
UAE secured their third draw in four matches having been held by Arab rivals Qatar in a game where conditions deteriorated after the break. Centre-back Ghanim got his second goal of the final series as he tucked home following a corner, but having conceded an equalizer 17 minutes later as Musabah failed to get to Al-Sulaiti’s header from 15 yards out, United Arab Emirates are lucky when the same player hits a first half injury time penalty wide of target. There are few chances in the second half, and UAE are the more satisfied with a point, as Qatar are out of the reckoning. 

Match 5
28.10.1989: United Arab Emirates 1-1 South Korea
Goal: Al-Talyani (16)
Line-up (4-4-2): Musabah – Obaid, M Ghanim, K Ghanim, Meer – Fahad Abdullah, Abdulrahman, Al-Shaibani, Juma’a (Mohamed h-t) – F Khamees, Al-Talyani (Ali Sultan 80)
Leading scorer Al-Talyani’s 16th minute header cancelled out an earlier South Korea strike, and though UAE had their backs to the wall throughout, they held on to claim a somewhat fortuitous point to earn them an historic first ever World Cup appearance, with the result in Qatar-China going their way. 

United Arab Emirates finished runners-up, and qualified for the World Cup along with group winners South Korea. 

1. South Korea 5 3 2 0 5-1 8
   2. United Arab Emirates 5 1 4 0 4-3 6
   3. Qatar 5 1 3 1 4-5 5
   4. China 5 2 0 3 5-6 4
   5. Saudi Arabia 5 1 2 2 4-5 4
   6. North Korea 5 1 1 3 2-4 3

Conclusion

United Arab Emirates did very well to make it out from the first group stage, when Kuwait had surely been favourites, but where UAE’s 3-2 home win, coupled with two big wins against Pakistan, saw them edge the 1982 World Cup participants on goal difference. 

Football was not a major sport in the young country, and their players were strictly amateur. Coming into the final group stage, United Arab Emirates were surely nothing but also-rans. They started with a draw against a North Korean team which had disposed of Japan in the first group stage, and then came up against China, who had experience from the 1988 Olympic Games football tournament, and who had ousted Iran in their first stage qualifying group. It was probably just what had been expected when China went ahead on the hour, and they had come from an opening day 2-1 win against the fancied Saudi Arabia team, so few would’ve expected much from UAE in this fixture. However, two late, late goals saw them stunningly turn the game on its head, as they claimed an excellent 2-1 win. 

While rarely offering plenty going forward, UAE were hard to break down under their legendary Brazilian head coach Mário Zagallo. In their third fixture in the final group stage, they were for large portions of the game against Saudi Arabia the inferior team, but in very wet conditions in Singapore they held on for a vital point against the regional powerhouse. Undefeated and with four points from three matches, United Arab Emirates were beginning to look like candidates for an unlikely World Cup spot. They would struggle somewhat again when they next faced Qatar, despite going ahead with beefy centre-back Khalil Ghanim, one of two brothers at the heart of the defence, on target for the second time in the series. Qatar drew level later in the half, and then missed a first half injury time penalty. Two points against the other two Arab participants was probably more than they deserved. 

The final group stage had very few goals, and no team, South Korea apart, stood out compared to the others. This ensured that UAE, with five points from four matches, were in second spot going into the final round of matches. They could yet be overtaken by no less than three teams, but perhaps it was a blessing that their final opponents, the South Koreans, had already made sure of qualification for the World Cup. Still, it was a massive task for UAE to get anything out of that game. South Korea had yet not conceded a single goal in their entire campaign, the first group stage included. Ultimately, everything went United Arab Emirates’ way, as they somehow hung on to a point in a 1-1 draw, and then China failed to cling on to their 1-0 lead against Qatar, which, coupled with 1-1 in the UAE match, would’ve taken them to Italia ’90. The Chinese were once again done by two late goals from the opposition, and United Arab Emirates could sensationally cement their spot in next year’s World Cup.