The host country overcame the Australians 1-0 thanks largely to a blunder by defender Milos Degenek who played a terrible back pass to goalkeeper Mat Ryan and striker Ali Ahmed Makhtoub accepted the gift with open arms to score.
The usually reliable Degenek who had a strong tournament was inconsolable after the final whistle while his teammates looked stunned by the turn of events.
Coach Graham Arnold looked like he was about to burst into tears while his UAE counterpart Alberto Zaccheroni could not contain himself with joy as he savoured yet another triumph over Australian football.
As Japan coach, the Italian also masterminded the Samurai Blue's 1-0 win over Holger Osieck's Socceroos in the 2011 Asian Cup final in Doha.
This was a hugely disappointing end of the tournament for the Socceroos who must now regroup and prepare for the qualifying campaign of the 2022 FIFA World Cup that will kick off later in the year,
Australian fans would have every reason to be concerned about the team's ability to qualify.
They must accept the reality that this team - even with the addition of Tom Rogic, Aaron Mooy and Daniel Arzani - is clearly one of the weakest in recent Socceroos history.
If the Socceroos cannot avoid defeat against Jordan and the UAE and need a last-gasp goal to beat Syria what hope will they have when they come up against the better teams and other tricky opponents on the road in the race for Qatar?
The fighting spirit is still there but that alone is not enough any more.
There is a glaring lack of class across the pitch and there can be no worse or misguided appraisal of the team's quality than to say that its problem is a lack of finishing power.
The team's weaknesses are everywhere you look, except in the goalkeeping department.
This was there for all to see in the quarter-final in Al Ain. The Socceroos had good moments in the first half when they put the home team under pressure thanks largely to the input on the right side of winger Chris Ikonomidis and fullback Rhyan Grant.
They created a few half chances that were routinely wasted. This, of course, is nothing new.
Yet the home side could so easily have gone into the break a goal up after they missed two absolute sitters.
In the second half the Socceroos applied a different kind of pressure.
They essentially ran themselves to the ground and never stopped trying but their game became more predictable and unimaginative as time wore on. Pumping crosses and free kicks into the penalty area was never going to unlock the UAE's defence because the Socceroos' attacks were dealt with competently by Zaccheroni's big men at the back.
It was a good contest and the Australians will feel that the ball did not fall kindly for them but the UAE no doubt deserved their hard-fought win. Their victory was a shock but no robbery.
In the semi-finals the UAE play Qatar who sprang another surprise earlier in the day by beating Korea Republic 1-0 in Abu Dhabi. Japan meet Iran in the other semi-final.
So in the space of a few hours both finalists from four years ago were forced to pack their bags.
And with the Qataris being slight favourites to reach the final for the first time, you wonder if we are we about to witness a changing of the guard in Asian football?
