If you have seen one World Cup soccer draw, you have seen them all.

A vague attempt at some entertainment, a Fifa official droning on, someone from the host country talking a bit too long, then the puzzling, almost impenetrable dance of the ping pong bowls inside the giant goldfish bowls manned by celebrity presenters.

(In this case, three singers, a goalie from the 1990 World Cup team, the national team coach and Omar Abdulrahman, the most popular player in the country.)

We had one of these draw events, tonight, in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE is the host country for the Fifa Under 17 World Cup, made up of 24 teams, and media and VIPs gathered in a ballroom at the five-star Fairmont Hotel … to see which teams got placed where over the coming hour.

It’s like the NFL Draft … except not as long and a bit less exciting.

The one moment of genuine emotion?

When Brazil was drawn to be in the same group with the UAE.

As I wrote in The National, an audible gasp came from the otherwise quiet/bored crowd. It was the first and last time something like that would occur.

Having Brazil in your group is a big deal. It probably means you will lose, it could mean a memorable victory (or even a draw) against the world’s premier footballing nation … and at the least it figures to provide the viewer with 11 young Brazilians of formidable soccer skills.

It represents an opportunity, certainly, for the Emiratis who will be on the U17 team, because the notion of “playing a heavyweight”, in Asia, pretty much means Japan or South Korea, and neither of those really send shivers down the spines of the global soccer elite.

It also makes the UAE’s second game in the tournament, versus Brazil on October 20, something of Required Viewing for the 1 million Emiratis.

This is, after all, very much a soccer nation. Even if the national team struggles to stay in the top 100, in Fifa’s world rankings, soccer is the first, second and third most-followed sport, with maybe horse (or camel) racing a distant fourth.

Now the UAE is matched against Brazil, and I will have to look this up, but I am pretty sure the UAE has never played Brazil in a global tournament.

They will soon.

The rest of the draw was fairly dreary, in part because many of the best soccer nations didn’t manage to get their U17 team qualified. Among the missing which would have elicited some interest here: Spain, Germany, England, Portugal — even Saudi Arabia or the United States.

Instead, we have Honduras and Slovakia — who happen to be the other (beatable) teams in the UAE’s group. (As well as Austria, Sweden, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Panama, Tunisia, Croatia.)

The draw always ends with a whimper, with the final team slotted into the final spot (duh), and I believe it was Sweden, and pretty soon we were all headed for the doors, hoping to get home in time for the start of the Manchester United-Chelsea match.

We did have that one Brazil (!) moment, though. There was that.