If this is sports, and we are talking about the UAE’s biggest victory, we can be talking only about soccer.

And this was a big victory, indeed.

UAE a 5-4 winner in a quarterfinal shootout over defending continental champion Japan in the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia.

If you are a team in Asia, the Asian Cup is the second-biggest tournament you can play in, behind only the World Cup.

And the UAE is in the final four.

I already have filed copy for The National in which I describe this as the most significant victory in the country’s history, while focusing on the three substitutes who came through in the shootout.

The National’s Ali Khaled is in Australia, covering the UAE senior side, whose stated goal was the semifinals — which the Emiratis have not reached since 1996 when 1) they were playing at home and 2) Asia was a far weaker region than it is now and 3) the tournament included only 12 teams, compared to 16 now.

Japan is a perfect example of the rise of Asian soccer. In 1996, they had never been to a World Cup.

Now, they have qualified for five straight World Cups, beginning in 1998. They are as close as Asia gets to a sure thing.

They were a baseball country, still, in 1996. Now, they are a soccer country, as well, and one of Asia’s best — along with South Korea and Australia.

They came into the game with three starters playing for major European clubs, led by forward Keisuke Honda, who plays for AC Milan, and Shinji Kazawa, who plays for Borussia Dortmund.

The UAE has guys who play for Al Ahli and Al Ain, mostly. No one who plays in Europe.

Japan won its group without allowing a goal, and certainly a key moment came in the seventh minute, when Amer Abdulrahman launched a long pass towards teammate Ali Mabkhout who, in a display of skill not associated with west Asia … deadened the ball with the outside of his right foot, let it bounce once and banged it inside the far post and just out of the reach of Japan’s keeper. A great shot, and a shock to Japan.

The next 74 minutes were about the UAE bunkering in and Japan chasing the game.

Japan, as good as it is, is not a bad matchup for the Emiratis. Their players are technical and fast, but they are not big or tall, which means they could not take advantage of UAE weakness in the air. And Japan is not dirty, which means the fragile Emiratis faced less risk of being injured.

The UAE channeled Japan down the sides of the field, bunching in the middle, daring them to cross, which they did a lot — to no avail. Japan had 18 corners (yes, 18) yet never scored on one. The UAE, meanwhile, had zero corners in the match.

It might have been better if the Emiratis had been a bit more offense-minded, because Japan had the ball 68 percent of the time, and often walked it up to the center line without any interference. It was nerve-racking.

In the 81st minute, Japan finally broke through, and did it on the ground, on the edge of the box. A backup named Gaku Shibasaka hit a short pass to Honda, then darted toward the edge of the box, and Honda hit it right back to him, and his Shibasaka’s first touch was a rocket that went into the goal just inside the left post.

In Abu Dhabi, watching on TV, we figured that would be that, but Japan was in its fourth consecutive game with the same starters, and had clearly spent a lot of energy chasing the game, and they went pretty much dead. The game went into the 30 minutes of extra time, and neither side had a really good chance, and then it went to the shootout.

Honda skied over the bar to begin things, which was a bad omen for Japan. Omar Abdulrahman went up and dinked a “panenka” into the goal — which is worth watching. It’s the soccer equivalent of a changeup pitch. Lots of motion, then the soft and slow kick that fools the keeper.

The UAE’s third shooter missed, and Japan had a 3-2 lead when their next guy converted.

Several of the best UAE shooters were out of the game, having given way to defense-oriented players back when the Emiratis were trying to hold that 1-0 lead.

So the next three were a guy who hadn’t played in the group stage, a guy with one start and nine minutes in the other two, and the third was the oldest guy on the team, a big central defender who played 10 minutes 12 days before and was in his third appearance with the national team in a competitive game.

All three made their penalties, in situations they have never faced, and Japan’s last shooter missed … and there you were: 5-4, the UAE playing hosts Australia in the semis on Tuesday.

Iraq, a surprise winner over Iran, plays South Korea in the other semi, on Monday.

It was a lot of excitement, in the UAE.

Our correspondent in Sydney did a match report, which included the Japan coach complaining about how they dominated the game but lost. And he did a comment piece on how getting this far was always the UAE goal, and they have reached it, and this is a success no matter what happens next, against Oz.

If the UAE can somehow win that one … a national holiday might be declared. No. Really.