'I saw flames in their eyes' - Khalid Al Hashemi says desire was key to Al Ain's victory

Al Ain defender Khalid Al Hashemi dedicated the club’s Asian Champions League success to the UAE’s leadership, saying he could “see the flames of desire” in the players’ eyes as they delivered a second continental crown for the country.

The Adnoc Pro League side, Asian champions in 2003, rebounded on Saturday night from a first-leg defeat to triumph 5-1 against Yokohama F Marinos in the second leg of the final at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.

With the 6-3 aggregate win, Al Ain became Asian champions for the first time in 21 years. They represent the only Emirati side to have captured the continent’s premier club crown.

“To begin with, I’m thankful for everything,” Al Hashemi told The National. “I'm over the moon as they say. I would like to give this competition, this trophy, this gold medal to our president, [President] Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed. Thankfully, we won this, and we give him this happiness.

“Also, I would like to give this to our [club] president Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed [Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi] and also [Al Ain vice-chairman] Sheikh Sultan bin Hamdan and the board members and everyone included in this club – fans, technical staff. Everyone, literally.

“We did well in this competition, and we well deserved it. What a run we had, especially after the knockout stage. We did amazing in each game, especially at home. Well deserved, thankfully.”

On Saturday, both Soufiane Rahimi and Kodjo Laba struck twice – Laba, not selected for the quarter-finals and semi-finals, was a second-half substitute – with Kaku registering Al Ain’s other goal, from the penalty spot. Yan Matheus had scored for Yokohama five minutes before half-time to level the tie at 3-3.

However, the visitors’ hopes of emerging from their first Champions