Before the 2007 Gulf Cup win, the UAE's finest performance was arguably when they finished second in 1988, with the team that became known as the golden generation as they qualified for the 1990 World Cup.
Nineteen years after the close call in 1988, Bruno Metsu’s men went one better by winning the cup. Sadly, that is where the story ends. There would be no further glory for this group of players.
Players such as captain and much-travelled striker Mohammed Omar and Al Ahli’s Faisal Khalil deserve credit for their contributions to that cherished first win. Yet, seven years on, they suffer in comparison with 2013 alumni Omar Abdulrahman, Ali Kasheif and Ali Mabkhout.
It did not help that the UAE’s performances deteriorated almost immediately after lifting the cup for the first time.
At the 2008 Asian Cup, six months after that Gulf Cup triumph, the team failed to qualify to the knockout stages.
In the 2009 Gulf Cup in Oman, the defending champions failed to get out of their group and, a year later in Yemen, they failed to score in three of four matches, losing 1-0 in the semi-finals to Saudi Arabia.
Far worse were their attempts at qualifying for the World Cup.
For South Africa 2010, the UAE got out of the first qualifying group in second place behind Iran, only to perform miserably in the second group stage, finishing bottom in the five-team Group B.
Metsu had resigned after consecutive 2-1 home defeats to North Korea and Saudi Arabia.
The campaign for Brazil 2014 was even more harrowing, with the UAE out of contention in November 2011.
The one bright thread throughout this period of darkness was Ismail Matar, who would prove a link between the lost generation of 2007 and golden generation mark two of 2013.
akhaled@thenational.ae
Follow our sports coverage on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO
Liverpool v Manchester City, Sunday, 8.30pm UAE
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
