As Mackenzie Hunt rejoins his Fleetwood Town clubmates for the trip to a chilly Carlisle this weekend, to play the side who are currently third last in the English Football League, it might feel as though he dreamt the past two weeks.
During that time – after just four matches of professional football, all in the fourth tier of the English game – he has become an international player.
His debut last Thursday night in Doha, at a stadium graced by Lionel Messi during the World Cup two years ago, arrived with the UAE attempting to close out one of their most famous wins.
Coming on with two minutes plus stoppage time to go against Qatar, the back-to-back champions of Asia, he set up the clinching goal for Ali Saleh with his first touch.
If the situation was not dreamy enough in itself, then the identity of the goal scorer added even greater poignancy. A little over 10 years ago, Hunt and Saleh had played together for a side called Soccer Circus in Dubai as Under 12s.
They might have been apart for much of the time since, but the understanding they first struck up as kids was clearly still very much in working order.
“I knew there would be a few familiar faces when I came in, and linking up with Ali for that goal was really nice,” Hunt told The National.
“My mum and dad were there having travelled over, so it was a really proud moment for us as a family. Growing up, my parents knew Ali’s parents so, as a whole, that was a great moment.”
Hunt’s parents were both there to witness it. That might seem standard for parents of international debutants, but dad Mark and mum Andrea have grown used to near-misses when it comes to their youngest son’s fledgling football career.
Hunt was on the bench 20 times for Everton last season, with Andrea being present for almost all of those games.
Meanwhile, as a resident of Dubai, it was tricky for Mark to be there quite so often. Even via TV it was a challenge. When a major storm hit the UAE in April, his home suffered a power cut and he had to rapidly make alternative arrangements to watch another fixture his son might have featured in.
And yet the Everton debut never did arrive. Hunt was released from the club he had been with since leaving Dubai in his early teens, and joined Fleetwood in the summer instead.
By that stage, he was already on the radar of UAE coach Paulo Bento. His promising start to life with Fleetwood led to the call-up for the national team, meaning his debut in the pro game was so swiftly followed by one in the international game.
“It was surreal,” his father Mark said of seeing his son playing in Doha. “The fact he came on and did well when he came on, we sat there after and said, ‘Did that actually just happen?’
“After the frustration of last season, when we just wanted to be there to see him make his debut, but he never got the chance.
“I went back for his professional debut for Fleetwood. That was great and then to be there for [his UAE debut] ticked all the boxes.
“We don’t know what the future holds. Football’s ways can be funny, and it is a very competitive and fickle industry, and if you get a chance, you have to take it. I was so pleased for him, as he looked so happy.”
Hunt Jr might have had to bide his time for his crack at the pro game, but he is chuffed with how things have panned out in the time since. “It’s been a positive start to the season,” he said. “With the club, we have started well, and I have put in a few good performances after my league debut.
“Now this [his international debut] has been surreal. It has come quickly, and I am really happy to have been involved with the team. I have adapted quickly. It has been tough with the weather, but it’s been a journey I have really enjoyed and hopefully we can keep going.”
At the start of this week, his club side Fleetwood advertised vacancies for a goalkeeping coach, an accounts assistant, and a safeguarding lead.
They might need to consider appointing an Arabic language social media editor, too, to cope with Mackenzie Mania from 6,000 kilometres away.
When the club tweeted their congratulations on his debut for the UAE, it was met with a deluge of responses. Their regular posts on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, generally get between 1,000 and 2,000 impressions.
The one referring to their newly-capped wing-back, though, has been seen around 100,000 times and attracted 140 comments – the majority of which were in Arabic.
Most replies were liberally decorated with UAE flags and heart emojis. A number complimented him on his hairstyle. Some termed him “our son,” while another simply stated: “I’m Fleetwood fan now”.
Hunt was an unused substitute in the second match of the international window, a 1-0 loss against Iran in Al Ain on Tuesday.
Yet still he was in demand, being sent out for media duties in the bowels of the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, and then stopped by fans for photos in the hotel afterwards.
If the UAE supporters have fallen for their new recruit already, then the feeling is mutual. Despite having been back living in the UK for around a decade now, Hunt still regards Dubai as home.
And, although the Arabic skills he learnt at school have lapsed somewhat since he has been away, he knows the most important stuff – meaning all the lyrics to Ishy Bilady.
“I only speak a few words of Arabic, just the basics, but the national anthem is one of the things I do know,” Hunt said, recalling the 8am daily ritual of schooldays in Dubai.
“It does bring back memories for me, and being over here for 10 days now [during the international window] it does feel like home. I’m sad to leave but hopefully I will be back next month and November for the next [qualifying matches].
“It does still feel like home. Everyone has been so welcoming that it feels normal for me being here.”
Fleetwood’s fixture was one of two postponed in League 2 last weekend because of call-ups for international duty. Among Hunt’s clubmates were players also representing Guyana and Northern Ireland.
“It is a whole new challenge for everyone,” Hunt said. “I have been in touch with the manager, Charlie Adam, and he was asking how I was getting on.
“They have been very supportive. Everyone was very excited for me, as it was a completely new thing, and nobody had really done that before. It has been an exciting process for everyone.”
Having now returned to club duty, the UAE players will reconvene in a month’s time for fixtures against North Korea and Uzbekistan.
The six-team group has on offer two places for qualification for the 2026 World Cup. After the first two matches of 10, the UAE have three points, having played the two highest-ranked sides in the Fifa standings in the pool.
“I thought we put in a really good performance, we just didn’t take our moments and our chances,” Hunt said of the loss to Iran. “Iran are a good team so they punished us. As a whole, we put in a good performance and we want to keep building on that.”
