The remainder of the 2016 President’s Cup has a lot to live up to.
A tournament’s worth of drama was packed into a remarkable round-of-16 opener between 10-man Al Wahda and eventual victors Al Wasl.
The thriller at Al Ain’s Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium featured an early red card, farcical own goal plus comebacks from 2-0 and 3-1 down which contained an equaliser way past 90 minutes for the Cheetahs on their way to a dramatic 4-3 triumph in extra-time through centre-back Abdulla Al Junaibi’s header.
Reward for their endeavour comes with a quarter-final against Arabian Gulf League-champions Al Ain or UAE Division 1 Group A outfit Ittihad Kalba.
For Wahda, only edging a tight fight for third spot in the top flight which also contains Friday night’s conquerors and incumbents Al Nasr is likely to secure entry into the 2017 AFC Champions League.
Despite being without Brazilian defensive midfielder Denilson, Chile maverick Jorge Valdivia and UAE firebrand Hamdan Al Kamali, they blitzed a then-woeful Wasl at the start.
Outstanding South Korea centre-back Rim Chang-woo struck a memorable first goal since his January switch, thrashing into the top corner from the edge of the box during a foray forward.
The second on 17 minutes came gift wrapped, right-back Yaser Salem’s under-hit back pass falling to grateful 17-goal AGL top scorer Sebastian Tagliabue to slot home.
A helping hand was needed to get the Dubai club back into it and Wahda right-back Mohamed Al Menhali obliged on 27 minutes. His reckless tug on forward Rogerinho resulted in a second yellow card and early bath.
With half-time approaching, Gabriel Calderon’s men struck back. Forward Caio Canedo won and converted a penalty which really should have seen a second red card for a nudge from centre-back Salem Sultan.
This momentum appeared to have been brought to an abrupt and comical end, left-back Hassan Ameen chipping goalkeeper Rashed Ali from 25 yards for a remarkable own goal to make it 3-1 to Wahda.
But the action was a long way from being over. Caio slotted home Fabio De Lima’s incisive through ball on 85 minutes to set up a grandstand finish which culminated with the latter converting a penalty with the last kick after Tagliabue fouled Al Junaibi.
The centre-back was then the unlikely hero in extra time, rising highest to glance in an incredible clincher from Hugo Viana’s corner on 103 minutes.
