On their respective dugout debuts, UAE’s Rodolfo Arruabarrena and Iraq’s Abdulghani Shahad both made five changes to their predecessors last starting XIs, but it was the Lions of Mesopotamia boss who enjoyed the happier start of the two.

The early proceedings saw little in way of scoring chances, with Iraq threatening through Amjad Attwan’s long range effort and Ahmed Ibrahim’s header inside the opening 15 minutes, but both attempts failed to find the target.

The UAE needed 23 minutes for their first sight of goal to arrive, but when it did it was a close one. Left-back Mahmoud Khamis set out on a marauding run down the flank, exchanging passes with Caio Canedo before whipping a cross that was met by the head of Ali Saleh but the forward’s effort bounced off the ground before being tipped over the crossbar by goalkeeper Jalal Hassan.  

Eight minutes into the second half, the UAE defence found themselves at sixes and sevens and Ali Faez took advantage of the confusion to snatch the ball and feed Hussein Ali (pictured below, left) who kept his composure to round goalkeeper Khalid Eisa and finish into the back of the net from a tight angle for Iraq’s opener.

The visitors regrouped and looked to find an equaliser but their first attempt of the second half didn’t arrive until the 75th minute when substitute Mohammed Al Baloushi tried his luck from range, but his effort did not trouble the Iraqi goalkeeper much.

Bandar Al Ahbabi thought he had finally found a way through for the UAE when he opted to shoot from an angled free kick but his attempt to deceive Jalal was not fruitful as the 'keeper quickly adjusted and made a fine save at the top corner to deny him.

Ultimately there would be no way back for the Whites and the few Iraqi fans present in the Saudi capital celebrated a famous win that takes them two points ahead of Lebanon and a single point behind the UAE, with the latter facing Korea Republic, while the Lions of Mesopotamia play Syria, with Lebanon traveling to Islamic Republic of Iran on Tuesday for the final day of the qualifiers.

Photos: AFC, AFP