DUBAI – Football fans across the UAE returned from Bahrain early on Saturday morning after the national team’s extra-time victory over Iraq in the Gulf Cup final – some still reeling from missing out on watching the match live.

Most supporters were elated with the performance of Mahdi Ali’s side in this regional tournament, but others voiced their deep disappointment at missing out on the live action after travelling so far to see it.

Organisers offered free entry to the prior match at the Bahrain National Stadium in Riffa – the third/fourth place play-off between the hosts and Kuwait – in order to guarantee another big crowd for that match. However, the Bahraini and Kuwaiti contingents stayed put for the final itself, leaving thousands of Emiratis out in the cold and out of the grounds.

With the venue already full to capacity – if not more so – travelling nationals arriving in time were left with no alternative but to watch the game on the big screens outside. That wasn’t quite the experience the faithful had hoped for. One fan summed up the feeling of many who missed out: “(The organisers) killed it.”