It was a night for the amateur psychologists at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium – and maybe one or two professional ones as well.
A half-empty stadium. Subdued atmosphere. Traumatised players.
It is not often a team plays their first league match of the season under such grim circumstances. All present were wondering how Al Ain would respond to the shattering, 3-0 defeat to Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia in the first leg of the Asian Champions League semi-finals only days earlier.
On Saturday night, Zlatko Dalic’s men won 2-0. But this was not about overcoming modest opposition or securing their first three Arabian Gulf League points.
This was about how Al Ain would react after their psychologically scarring experience in Riyadh. This was not Al Ain against Al Wasl. It was Al Ain against their own demons.
Considering the scrutiny the players and coach were under, Al Ain did just enough. Whether enough to give genuine hope that the 3-0 deficit can be overturned next week is unclear.
Dalic should be grateful for Miroslav Stoch’s superb, last-minute goal for lifting the mood of the fans.
The coach also will find satisfaction from the individual performances of several key players.
Perhaps for the first time in his charmed career, questions had been asked of Omar Abdulrahman after the defeat to Al Hilal.
His response was admirable, sacrificing his creative urge to benefit the team.
He was in philosophical mood at the final whistle.
“We’ve just come out of a defeat that we had not expected,” he said. “We cannot change the past, and we had to think of the Al Wasl game on its own. Now we’ve got to think of Ajman next. Then we can think about the future.”
By “future” he meant the second leg against Al Hilal on September 30.
The first leg had, after a bright first half, deteriorated into a harrowing experience for Abdulrahman. The fulcrum of the Al Ain attack, he was withdrawn in the second half at Hilal, leading to speculation that Dalic was unhappy with his defensive work.
Starting in his favoured No 10 role, he had been hounded every time the ball was at his feet, the Saudi players apparently under instructions to disrupt his influence on the game. Stop Omar and you stop Al Ain.
It worked. Against Al Wasl, he was deployed in a deeper role and he responded by starting the move that led to Asamoah Gyan’s opening goal.
His brother, Mohammed, played the decisive, defence-splitting pass for the Ghanaian World Cup captain to race on to.
“Sometimes a coach will change tactics, today he asked me to perform this [withdrawn] role,” Omar Abdulrahman said.
“I’m ready to play wherever the coach asks me to play.”
If anyone was looking for a sulking Abdulrahman, they would have been disappointed. His mature, measured performance contributed to a vast improvement in defence, although Wasl’s attack is clearly inferior to Hilal’s.
The backline, a shambles in Riyadh, kept their concentration, and won a clean sheet. Anything less in the second leg will almost certainly see Al Ain out of the Champions League.
Others, too, seemed determined to shake off the disappointment in double-quick time.
Gyan started the match as if he planned to terrorise Al Wasl’s defence on his own. His fine goal was followed by a stunning header that came off the bar in the closing stages of the first half.
His performance would have delighted Dalic and, with 12 goals in this year’s Champions League, Gyan’s scoring power will be needed again to drag Al Ain back from a seemingly hopeless situation.
On the left side of attack, Stoch was full of running, his threat in contrast to the laboured efforts of Jires Kembo Ekoko on the other wing.
The Slovak hit the post with a first-half free kick, before successfully scoring with an almost identical effort in injury time.
The relief in the crowd was clear.
The victory over Al Wasl is only the first step on the way back to rehabilitation and another win against Ajman should prove additionally therapeutic.
But needing three unanswered goals, Al Ain will have to play with perfection to reach the final of Asia’s premier club competition.
“Of course, the Champions League is the trophy that everyone wants,” Abdulrahman said. “You have to prepare yourself physically and psychologically for Al Hilal.”
Clear heads will be needed if the greatest comeback in Al Ain’s history is to be achieved.
akhaled@thenational.ae
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