Rodolfo Arruabarrena targets new goals after UAE's exquisite raid on South Korea

By any means possible. That was the message with which coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena signed off his pre-match press briefing ahead of the UAE’s daunting assignment with unbeaten South Korea.

All that mattered was a win. If it needed to be ugly, so be it. But the players needed to claw for every inch if they were going to do something that no other team had managed in a year, and inflict a loss on the Koreans.

As it turned out, the performance was both effective and – in its own way – lovable, too.

It was a classic of the smash-and-grab genre. One rapid, clinical raid, executed by Harib Abdullah with the poise of a seasoned international veteran, rather than a callow 19-year-old locum for Ali Mabkhout, the most prolific scorer in UAE history.

Even Son Hueng-min, the captain of the opposition who was celebrating his 100th appearance for South Korea, could scarcely have done it better.

And then a rearguard that was by turns dogged and canny, and courageous all the way through.

Sure, luck went their way at times. Khalid Eisa needed lengthy treatment after crashing into his left-hand post when he was beaten by a looping volley from range by Hwang Hee-chan which landed on his crossbar and bounced to safety.

The Al Ain goalkeeper recovered and was crucial in repelling the Korean assault in the second half. He tipped a close-range header from Hwang Ui-jo onto the crossbar and over. Later, he pawed away a deflected free kick from Son. Both saves required remarkable elasticity.

All over the pitch, players gave everything they had. So spent was Abdullah himself, the teenaged forward had to be substituted after twice being treated for cramp on the field.

Abdelaziz Haikal wore one powerful drive on the body and looked shell-shocked. It