Qatar Beat The Hell Out Of UAE And Then Got A Bunch Of Shoes Thrown At Them

The UAE had big hopes this winter. The tiny Middle Eastern nation is hosting this month’s Asian Cup, and national team appeared to be on the brink of something special when they qualified for the semifinals against their hated rivals, Qatar. Then Qatar beat the shit out of them so badly today that the only respite UAE’s distressed and angry fans could find was through taking off their shoes and chucking them at Qatar’s players as they celebrated scoring.

The best video of the shoestorm came after Almoez Ali’s goal in the 37th minute that put Qatar up, 2-0:

If you look closely, you can also see a few sandals and plastic bottles raining down at the Qatar players after they scored their third and fourth goals:

Here are some more photos of the wet and/or smelly projectiles that littered the pitch both during and after the match:

It is unclear if these shipments of water and pop bottles between UAE fans and Qatari players constitutes an escalation or a detente in the ongoing blockade between the two nations.