Substitute Ahmed Khalil smashed home a
late penalty harshly awarded for a handball after Mohamed Alromaihi had
given Bahrain a shock lead in Abu Dhabi.

“The crowd was like a 12th man for us, so I wish we could have given them the victory,” said UAE coach Alberto Zaccheroni.

“But
we will have to take this lesson and move on. The important thing is to
evolve gradually from one game to the next and grow into the
tournament.

The Emirates scored after just 14 seconds when
the two teams met at the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia but there was
little danger of that in a scruffy first half.

UAE’s Ismail Alhammadi fired tamely at goalkeeper Sayed Alawi after six minutes before Ali Mabkhout blazed wildly over.

Bahrain went close just before halftime when Komail Alaswad fizzed a free kick just over the bar.

The home side’s profligacy continued as Mabkhout lashed wide from point-blank range.

That wastefulness came back to haunt the UAE
after 78 minutes when Alromaihi bundled home after his initial header
appeared to have crossed the line.

Sami Alhusaini almost equalised five minutes from time, only for Alawi to pull off a stunning block.

But Jordanian referee Adham Makhadmeh pointed
to the spot five minutes from time for what appeared to be an
unintentional handball to offer the hosts a lifeline.

Khalil, appearing in his 100th international,
displayed nerves of steel as he stepped up to rifle the spot kick into
the top corner and send a raucous crowd of 33,000 wild.

‘Hard luck’

Bahrain coach Miroslav Soukup kept his counsel after the late setback, refusing to criticse the referee.

“You could maybe say it was hard luck,” said
the Czech. “I didn’t see it and I haven’t seen the video, but the
players were in the locker room saying it wasn’t a deliberate handball
— so it’s bad luck.”

Zaccheroni steered Japan to the continental
title in 2011, but his Emirates side have flat-lined in the run-up to
this year’s competition, scoring just 10 goals in 18 games under the
Italian.

Their hopes of going deep into the tournament
have not been helped by the loss of mop-top talisman Omar Abdulrahman
through injury.

They take on India and Thailand in their next two Group A fixtures.

However, they will need to improve if they
have designs on emulating their run to the last four in 2015 when they
stunned holders Japan in the quarter-finals.

The Emiratis were beaten finalists the last
time the country hosted the Asian Cup in 1996, losing on penalties to
Saudi Arabia but appeared to be stifled by the pressure in Saturday’s
opening match.

“We had our chances but just couldn’t take them,” shrugged Zaccheroni.

“We struggled to supply the forwards at times
and the players were getting a little frustrated. But we will have to
deal with the pressure and be brave.”