RIYADH, 31 January — Saudi Arabia produced three of the best when it needed the most to literally turn the Gulf Cup match upside down in the space of 15 minutes. After a desultory first half, in which the Kingdom fell into arrears against a confident Qatar and an increasingly confined 30 minutes in the second, nobody would have envisaged this thrilling Kingdom comeback.
And comeback they did and that too in style to run out runaway 3-1 victors at King Fahd International Stadium here yesterday. The victory lifted the Kingdom to 13 points, leaving the erstwhile leaders Qatar at 12 giving the coveted cup to the jubilant Saudis.
Riyadh Governor Prince Salman presented the glittering Gulf Cup to Saudi captain Sami Al-Jaber in front of a record crowd. The governor also distributed medals to the top three finishers and cups for top performances.
World Cup qualifiers Saudi Arabia showed why they are the team to beat in the six-nation event with a display that turned from desperation to devastation. And they devastated the Qatari hopes with a display that bordered on the sublime. Twice they broke through the shackling Qatari offside-trap to finish off brilliant runs clinically and with it Qatar’s dreams.
Till the 78th minute of the contest, all seemed to be going the other way despite the Kingdom’s strenuous efforts. Qatar, which needed only to draw yesterday to pip the Kingdom to the post, had seemingly done more than what was needed of them when they took the lead in the 25th minute of the match. And when they fell back to rock-like defending, even the most ardent Kingdom fan was slowly coming to terms that it was not going to be their team’s day.
But the Saudi players once again showed that they at best can emulate Houdini by extricating themselves from near impossible situations. And that’s what they did. But they needed the quicksilver run of Sami Al-Jaber to prise open the tiring Qatari defense. The effervescent forward, who was tightly marked, broke free from his shadows to enter dangerously into the box. But tough Qatari tackling broke the Kingdom’s momentum. Al-Jaber was hacked down in mid-stride and Abdullah Jamaan struck the resultant penalty home. This brought the Saudis on level terms after Qatar had ridden high for much of the match on the Ahmad Khalifa strike in the 25th minute. His powerful shot proved too much for Saudi keeper Muhammad Al-Daeya.
With the Saudis now charged up, the flow of the match suddenly turned one-sided with the Saudis looking for that one goal that would put them on top. And in their search they found two of the best. And on both the occasions they caught the advanced Qatari defense off with their opportunistic moves. First a long clearance in the 83rd minute found Saleh Al-Muhammadi on. He quickly latched on to the dipping ball before beating Qatari keeper Hasan Al-Romaihy with a precise shot. Though the Saudis came close to increasing the tally, their third goal only came in injury time as once again the Kingdom cashed in on Qatari desperation for an equalizer. With the defense again well up, a long diagonal once again sailed over the Qatar defenders. This time Talal Mishaal was at hand to collect, control and finish clinically. He was a bit stretched in holding on to the ball, but he showed his adeptness in holding on to the bouncing ball before adroitly hitting home at a shallow angle.
Al-Jaber, Jamaan and Hasan Al-Yami toiled hard after the Qataris had broken through, but all they could show for their efforts was a naught. But one move, one effort and one sure shot from the spot opened the one-way traffic to victory.
Saudi coach Nasir Al-Jowhar jumped for joy as his boys came through in the end segment of the drama. And even he would be feeling happy at the way the script turned out, with action right till the death.
Al-Daeya and the Saudi defenders too were called on to produce their best on a day when every player played his part superbly and to the full.
Six GCC countries — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates — participated in the tournament, one of the major sports events in the Gulf region.
Defending champions Kuwait avoided the embarrassment of bottom place in the cup with a 2-1 win over the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday. Kuwait, under former Germany coach Berti Vogts, shared third place on five points with Bahrain, who drew their last match 1-1 with Oman.
Al-Daeya of Saudi Arabia was picked the best goalkeeper prize in the event while the top scorer award went to Hani Al-Dhabit of Oman. The best player prize was presented to Qatar’s Jufal Rashed and the cup for fair play was given to the Saudi team.
