No match in the tournament has seen a stadium packed this way.
Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi was filled with 38,646 fans. The vast majority were supporting the home side, after Emirati authorities block-bought 18,000 tickets as a "charitable act", to give them away for free to locals (while coincidentally ensuring few "neutral" Qatar fans could get a seat). Just a few Omanis and Sudanese visitors - and one now famous Korean woman, Mary Lee - supported the Qataris.
Yet the hostile environment in the stadium, that saw Emirati fans screaming chants during the Qatari national anthem, did not influence Felix Sanchez Bas or his players as Qatar set out to simply eliminate the Emiratis in the first half.
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With a solid and organised performance, the Annabis broke down the UAE's defence again and again. In the 22nd minute, a counter-attack led by Akram Afif and Boualem Khoukhi ended with a nice goal from Khoukhi, an Algerian-Qatari, with his shot sliding under the body of UAE goalkeeper Khalid Eissa.
Forty-thousand Emiratis were silenced in the Abu Dhabi stadium, as Khoukhi kissed the Qatari crest on his chest in front of the world's cameras.
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The Sudanese-born striker, in the centre of a legal saga for the past week over his eligibility to play for Qatar, notched his eighth goal of the tournament, equalling the record of Iranian legend Ali Daei and danced in front of the home crowd. The fans answered with an avalanche of shoes thrown onto the pitch, as the masses in the stands simply lost control. Further volleys of shoes and bottles followed throughout the match.
Read more: Flying shoes fail to kill sportsmanship as UAE and Qatar face off
The second half was a much more conservative affair from both teams, with Sanchez and Alberto Zaccheroni afraid to make any mistakes. The UAE's Italian coach threw veteran Ahmed Khalil into the fray to replace Ismaeel al-Hammadi in midfield, but it was only a cosmetic change.
In the 80th minute, Hassan al-Haydos, the Qatari captain, received a wonderful ball from Akram Afif, sliding smoothly past his defender and with a stylish chip over a grounded goalkeeper, sealed the UAE's fate. At least they wouldn't have far to walk home (many barefoot).
Despite a generally good-natured match (at least on the pitch), Ismael Ahmed received a red card after he elbowed a Qatari forward in the face in an off-the-ball incident - in what looked like the final nail in the UAE's coffin - but theer was yet more bad news for the Emiratis. In the third minute of stoppage time, Hamid Ismail notched Qatar's fourth goal, after an assist from Karim Boudiaf.
Xavi Hernandez predicted a month before the tournament that Qatar and Japan would meet in the Asian Cup final, and that Qatar would win. The football world laughed and accused him of receiving some PR guru's money (he is, after all, playing in Qatar).
This Friday, they will make history when they play Qatar's first ever Asian Cup final against Japan - a four-time winner.
Uri Levy runs the popular football blog BabaGol, which covers football and politics focusing on the Middle East. Follow him on Twitter, and read his blog here.
The New ArabComments