JEDDAH, 29 December 2003 — Yemen caused a mild flutter when they took a point off fancied Oman in the 16th Gulf Soccer Championship with a 1-1 draw in Kuwait City yesterday.
Minnows Yemen, who were invited to participate in the Gulf Championship this year for the first time, were expected to be among the also-rans in the event, especially after the strong showing by Oman in the opening match against hosts Kuwait. Oman’s attacking flair blunted the vaunted Kuwaitis and the match ended 0-0.
Meanwhile, the Yemeni team failed to impress in the warm-up matches and in the qualifying rounds in Jeddah. They lost to Saudi Arabia 7-0 and to Indonesia 3-0. Against this backdrop, many felt it would be a cakewalk for the Omanis yesterday.
Oman have themselves to blame for frittering away maximum points after flubbing a penalty in the 11th minute. With the Yemenis packing their defense with nearly ten men, the Omani attack’s rhythm was broken.
But one move from the left flank resulted in Badr Mubarak breaking into the box where he was stopped by a tough tackle. Mubarak stepped up to take the penalty award and his shot was easily blocked by a diving Yemeni goalkeeper Salem Awad.
This provided a veritable shot-in-the-arm for the Yemenis who, despite laying a heavy accent on defense, organized some swift counters that looked dangerous.
The only other move that had a goal-look to it was when Oman striker Hani Al-Dhabet failed to control a defense-splitting pass in front of an open goal thus scorning the 26th minute opportunity.
After a goalless first half, the second session provided much excitement with the Yemenis breaking out of their defensive mold to organize some spirited moves. And they shocked all with a superb goal in the 53rd minute. Shadi Jamal, given lots of room to maneuver, struck a thudding shot from outside the box to the left of the rooted Omani goalie.
Yemen, after forging the lead, fell back to defend this lead and they paid for it. Oman pushed ahead aggressively in search of an equalizer and 11 minutes later drew level after a sustained period of aggression. Fawzi Basher showed fine opportunity as a looping cross beat a host of defenders and the goalie to land on his feet. He was quick to redirect it into the goal.
Though Oman tried hard to secure all three points, their attempts were met by a very well-organized Yemeni defense. Yemen managed to hold on and gain a share of points.
Today, Kuwait will take on UAE in the first match and Saudi Arabia will face Qatar in the second game. The last time Saudi Arabia faced Qatar was in Riyadh in Gulf Championship final. Saudi Arabia won 3-1 against Qatar.
