The United Arab Emirates scored a very comfortable 2-0 victory over the All Whites in the OSN Cup Final at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on September 9, the final moments of which were marred by a moment of utter madness from New Zealand substitute Ben Sigmund. UAE striker Ali Mabkhout had been picked out on the left flank by the game’s outstanding individual, Omar Abdulrahman, but there was no threat to the All Whites’ goal given Mabkhout was going away from the target and had Sigmund covering behind him. That was until the defender felled the striker from behind before landing feet-first on top of the fallen front-runner, an act which had referee Fahad Al Merdasi reaching for his red card in an instant, and rightly so. What on earth Sigmund was thinking only he will know, but one thing’s for sure - there’s no place on a football pitch for this sort of nonsense, and the offender will find that his actions have lost him some of the respect in which he’s long been held by many NZ football followers. The incident was very much out of place with what had gone before in a match dominated by the United Arab Emirates, although they endured an early scare as goalkeeper Ali Khaseif was forced to save at the feet of Cameron Howieson just ninety seconds into the contest. UAE’s response to this saw them opening the scoring in the tenth minute. Abdulrahman ignited the move, picking out Habib Fardan with a pass which allowed the midfielder to angle the ball through to Mabkhout, ghosting in behind the All Whites’ defence. As Glen Moss raced out of goal towards him, the striker promptly set up Ahmed Khalil to fire home through the legs of Andrew Durante, whose performance as the defensive midfield anchor was not one on which he will reflect fondly, in part due to the fact that the central defender was being played out of position … UAE threatened again three minutes after the goal, Mabkhout again leading the charge with an angled run which was rewarded by Ismail Al Hammadi’s pass. Moss was out to thwart the striker on this occasion, which is more than can be said for the players in front of him! There was a real lack of authority about the All Whites’ defensive display. It wasn’t “rabbit in headlights” material, but there was certainly an uncertainty evident in their play which the likes of Abdulrahman, with his deft touches, vision and movement, looked to exploit at every opportunity. They also struggled to cope with Mabkhout’s pace, an aspect emphasised in the twentieth minute when the striker went down in the area under Tommy Smith’s challenge. Referee Al Merdasi gave the defender the benefit of the doubt on this occasion - on another day, the attacking player’s claims would have found favour. The next goalmouth incident, in the 22nd minute, was a genuine bolt out of the blue - Howieson hit the crossbar with a dipping long-range free-kick, the first of two such deliveries from the youngster which gave the UAE defence cause for concern. The other came ten minutes later, this time picking out Winston Reid’s run to the near post, taking with him Fardan, whose attempt to head clear Howieson’s well-flighted delivery succeeded in his directing a glancing downward header towards his own goal. Khaleif produced a superb parried save to deflect the ball to safety, directly beneath the crossbar.

Another All Whites raid four minutes before half-time saw Jeremy Brockie flick on Moss’ clearance to Chris Wood, who shot early and wide from a good position, one from where he should have hit the target at the very least. That moment of profligacy was nearly punished on the stroke of half-time. Durante’s poor pass presented the unmarked Mabkhout with the ball on the edge of the penalty area, and after evading a challenge, he let fly with a shot which flashed inches the wrong side of the wrong-footed Moss’ goal. It was a real let-off for the All Whites, who saw Leo Bertos’ penalty claims turned down two minutes after the resumption. Three minutes later, Abdulrahman was weaving his wizardry, working a one-two on the left with Mabkhout before looking to pick out Khalil with a measured cross. Moss anticipated this very well, but there was little he could do to prevent UAE from doubling their advantage, in the 56th minute. Abdulrahman latched onto a loose ball in the centre circle, and swerved a gem of a pass with the outside of his left foot into the stride of the completely unmarked Mabkhout, who took one touch to control the ball before curling a gem of a shot around Moss and into the far corner of the net - 2-0. At this point, the All Whites introduced Kris Bright to the fray, and his response was instant - a glancing header which flashed inches past the post on receipt of a measured Barbarouses cross. Back came the UAE from the resulting goal-kick, Ismail Al Hammadi combining with Abdulrahman via a one-two which featured a sumptuous return pass from the talented playmaker. It invited Al Hammadi to let fly, something which he did with aplomb, only to see the ball bounce inches beyond the far post, with Khalil, hurtling in, just failing to make contact with the sphere in the shadows of the crossbar. After this, UAE opted to coast through the remainder of the match offering the All Whites a handful of openings, the pick of which fell to Barbarouses in the 66th minute. Tony Lochhead’s angled cross was flicked on by Bright to the speedster, who side-stepped a challenge in the penalty area only to be denied by the legs of Khaseif, who quickly gathered the rebound before Barbarouses could capitalise on it. Efforts from Wood - blocked by Ismail Ahmed - and Howieson - a tame, inaccurate finish to a neat move down the right - materialised in the next twelve minutes, while after Sigmund’s dismissal, substitute Majed Alahmadi worked a one-two with Abdulrahman on the right before brilliantly improvising an opening to beat an opponent en route to the penalty area, from where Alahmadi blazed over the bar. The ten men were well beaten by this stage, however, and while substitutions during the match allowed All Whites coach Ricki Herbert to address the initial ineffectiveness of his defence and central midfield, the lack of a cutting edge in this game, allied to the absence of a couple of first-choice players - Marco Rojas and Michael McGlinchey spring to mind - has left Herbert with plenty to ponder ahead of his team’s all-important FIFA World Cup play-off matches in two months’ time. UAE: Khaseif; Alkalosis (Abdulaziz, 72), Ghalib, Ahmed, Salem; Abdulrahman, Fardan, Ismail (booked, 77) (Ibrahim, 82), Al Hammadi (Alahmadi, 60); Mabkhout, Khalil (Saleh, 84) All Whites: Moss; Bertos, Reid, Smith (booked, 20), Lochhead (Sigmund, 70 (sent off, 90)); Howieson, Durante (Vicelich, 66), James (Clapham, 55); Brockie (Bright, 57), Wood, Barbarouses Referee: Fahad Al Merdasi