Young lions lifting UAE's title hopes

He sports rock star hair and has yet to score a goal, but mop-topped Omar Abdulrahman has become the talk of the Asian Cup after two inspired performances for UAE.

If anyone questioned the 23-year-old's quality, the debate was settled by his inch-perfect chip over Bahrain's defence on Thursday for what became the fastest opening goal in the tournament's history. Abdulrahman picked up the ball deep in Bahrain's half, looked up and lashed a pin-point pass to the feet of Ali Mabkhout, who tuckedit away after only 14 seconds.

Abdulrahman went on to become man of the match in the eventual 2-1 win, which put the Gulf nation into the quarterfinals with one group match to spare.