For a player of whom so much is expected, Omar Abdulrahman was still able to cut his usual indifferent figure during Friday’s preamble for the 2016 AFC Champions League’s conclusion.
When you are touched by greatness, it seems such occasions can feel mundane. Yet with coach Zlatko Dalic to his right and the curiously-shaped trophy South Korea’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors are so eager to deny him on his left, he made clear with words just how vital it is that the current Boss squad prevail on Saturday evening.
The frizzy-haired and extravagantly-talented playmaker, dressed in a club polo shirt which showed off a suitably-expensive timepiece for a man of his status, declared to the media he was gearing up for the “game of my life”.
This is some statement when you consider the iconic displays delivered for the UAE at the 2012 Olympics and 2015’s run to third in the Asian Cup. Both the challenge of adding to the Boss’ storied history and his own individual pursuit of iconic status demanded such a billing.
Put simply, the maturing boy wonder of Emirati football is only one game away from joining his club’s Pantheon of seminal performers. Far beyond next Thursday’s procession to, surely, being named 2016 AFC Player of the Year, his legacy will be assured if a rousing comeback is engineered during the second leg of the final.
With a 2-1 deficit held from last week’s enthralling opener at Jeonju World Cup Stadium, another standout display is required by a superstar who has claimed an impressive eight man-of-the-match awards in 13 fixtures up to this point.
Individual gongs can never outweigh a pivotal role in a collective achievement, no matter the pomp and ceremony. This is the scenario for ‘Amoory’, whose long-lauded talent demands the validation ACL success will bring.
Salem Johar and Mohammad Omar are names spoken with a special reverence in the Garden City after their goal-scoring exploits in 2002/03’s solitary ACL success against Thailand’s BEC Tero Sasana. To join them, similar influence must be exerted on Saturday night.
A change to a 4-3-3 formation with Abdulrahman as the falsest of ‘false nines’ in the first leg left him isolated and hamstrung.
Against the run of play, superb feet in the corner under pressure from three markers allowed him to tee up Colombian winger Danilo Asprilla for the opener. But this was the standout moment.
The frustration from a night spent otherwise chasing aimless long balls from centre-back Ismail Ahmed was etched across his face as he trudged down the mixed zone post match. Such negative emotions have been rare during a calendar year which has seen him come of age.
Delivering with a consistency not witnessed since his breakthrough on a global stage in London and subsequent bravura 2012/13 season with the Boss, he has been without peer in Asia.
To make good on his preternatural abilities, his club must overcome South Korea’s finest – only a bribery scandal prevented a procession to the recent K League Classic. This will be no straightforward task. The Green Warriors are a perfectly-calibrated unit.
They possess selfless man-markers such as Choi Chul-soon who was Abdulrahman’s shadow last Saturday, while the Brazilian duo of Ricardo Lopes and two-goal Leonardo showed how devastating they can be when afforded the minimum of space. Such opponents must be subjugated by the brilliance of ‘Amoory’ if epochal success is to be attained.
Without it, the impending gala ceremony in Abu Dhabi will feel hollow no matter his incredible performances throughout the preceding months.