The eye-catching wonder of Kingdom Centre dominates the Riyadh skyline that the UAE witnessed on Wednesday when they arrived for the defence of their Gulf Cup crown.
The shimmering building is modernity at its finest, the curvature and trademark hole not easily forgotten. It is a sight to savour for anyone who makes the trip to the capital of Saudi Arabia.
UAE superstar Omar Abdulrahman fits into the same breathtaking category.
His stupendous and inspirational displays in the last edition of the tournament in Bahrain ensure he should be vying with the skyscraper to be the biggest attraction in the city of his birth during the next few weeks.
Such showings cemented his position as Asian football’s brightest star following his global breakthrough at the London 2012 Olympics.
Certainly, he seemed set on a stellar course to the absolute top of the sport after dismantling Iraq in the 2013 final.
But, things have not run so smoothly for the 23-year-old Al Ain playmaker in recent months.
Fighting another niggling knee injury that has eroded his physical capabilities, Abdulrahman has seemed to be running in sand for much of the season.
Club manager Zlatko Dalic picked up on this lack of energy and verve. In the autumn, he astutely dropped Abdulrahman into a deep-lying playmaker role prior to his knee flare up as he attempted to gently ease his star man into finest fettle.
A huge test now awaits in the Kingdom. Regular training sessions in the base the Whites vacated in Dammam can only take a player so far, though he managed a second-half cameo in last Thursday’s 3-2 friendly victory against Lebanon.
The problem was picked up in the dying embers of September’s 4-0 Arabian Gulf League dismantling of Ajman, exacerbated in the attempts to overturn a daunting AFC Champions League semi-final deficit in the second leg against Riyadh’s Al Hilal.
For a player who is defined by quickness of thought and foot in the middle of the park, peak conditioning is essential to compete.
Those attributes buy him the time to unleash his incisive passes. Without them, frustrating lost balls follow.
The issue of fitness was magnified by the knee problem, though top form had eluded him even before then. Glorious performances in August’s ACL quarter-final double-header against Saudis Al Ittihad hinted at great things, though this was not to continue. In the next stage, Hilal were the jackals preying on him without remorse.
The eventual beaten finalists harassed and pressed without ceasing. Worryingly, and with the draining effects of the UAE’s trio of summer friendlies as mitigation, the dancing steps and short bursts that defined the formative years of his career were not present.
Abdulrahman fizzled out that night, a damaging spell helping to end any hopes of Al Ain being crowned Asia’s premier club.
The Gulf Cup stage provides a both perfect and poignant platform for redemption. ‘Amoory’ will be screeched at him whenever he appears in the place where he was raised in humble beginnings, before switching across the border to join the Al Ain academy in 2007.
There will not be a moment’s rest for him, a sea of microphones set to greet his every appearance as the media and public hang on his every word. A stark contrast to his enforced inactivity with the Boss since last running out for them against Hilal on September 30.
What state he will be in and whether he will even start the Group B opener against Oman is still up in the air. It is by far the gravest worry for the Whites.
What cannot be denied is the fact that a fully-functioning Abdulrahman is essential if the UAE are to hold onto their Gulf Cup crown.
Coach Mahdi Ali will be giving his leading man every opportunity in the coming days to show he is still worthy of top billing.
It would be a grave disappointment for both player and nation if he was unable to show once more that true class never fades.
