The UAE leans toward traditions and styles preferred by some of the elite European leagues, so the local Super Cup is rather like those of several other countries.

The defending league champion plays the defending cup champion (in this case, the President’s Cup; in England, the FA Cup) in a match that kicks off the season.

Thus, Al Ain versus Al Ahli, a couple of teams that look like they may dominate UAE football for a year or three.

How good are these two?

Of the 23 players called up by the national coach, Mahdi Ali, to play Trinidad & Tobago in Saudi Arabia next week, 12 come from these two teams.

Meaning the other 25 or so clubs in the country (including the other 12 in the top flight) provide only 11 players, total, to the national team.

Ahli and Al Ain also could have as many as eight of the starting 11 in the next national team match.

Again, that’s how good they are.

They played on punishingly hot night in Abu Dhabi. When the sun goes down, this time of year, it seems to get hotter because humidity suddenly soars. It’s rough.

It had to effect play. After 30 minutes, a lot of guys looked spent, and this after two weeks of conditioning at camps in Austria and Germany.

It finished 0-0, and (mercifully) they went straight to a shootout. (As opposed to the Uefa Cup, later tonight, where Chelsea and Bayern Munich, played another 30 minutes before getting to the shootout, won by Bayern.)

Ahli won the shootout 3-2, as Majed Naser, the country’s best goalkeeper (when he’s not losing his mind and striking a coach or butting an opponent) made two saves. Those are Al Ahli players, above, who are charging towards Naser to celebrate.

Osman Samiuddin of The National staff, did a think piece suggesting that Al Ain and Al Ahli could be taking the UAE’s domestic league in the direction of Spain or Germany — where two teams seem to dominate. A duopoly, if you will.

More than 25,000 people turned out, which may not seem like a lot until we remember that 1) generally speaking, only Emirati adult males go to football matches and 2) the whole of the country has fewer than 500,000 males. Of any age.

The photo gallery posted gives a better idea of what it looked like.

What it felt like? Seriously hot … and a nice start to a season that in a couple of months will not be quite so sweaty.