JEDDAH, 1 January 2004 — In a veritable game of musical chairs at the top, Oman became the occupiers of the place with a stunning 2-0 defeat of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the 16th edition of the Gulf Soccer Championships in Kuwait City yesterday.
UAE, at the outset, were the more favored of the two teams in the middle yesterday. But Oman showed the same verve they had displayed against Kuwait in the opening match and this unsettled the organized UAE.
Oman had only two draws, one against Kuwait and an embarrassing tie against Yemen, for all the effort in their earlier encounters. Today they were given a more freer hand in dictating terms with the UAE defense allowing space to their star striker Hani Al-Dhabet. Oman controlled the entire proceedings with Hani roaming at will and it was his constant foraging and sudden switches in the line of attack wreaked havoc on the UAE defense.
The UAE goalie was tested in the 13th minute from a corner kick that twisted in the air to curl toward the goal but the goalie managed to parry it. An Omani midfielder pounced on the rebound and shot goalward, but the UAE defenders were more organized to beat back this threat.
Hani came close to scoring the first goal in the 26th minute when he met a corner kick head on, only to watch the UAE goalkeeper effect a stunning save. But Oman forged ahead in the 33rd minute, when Ahmad Mubarak showed fine opportunism to latch onto a poor defensive clearance to hit home with finesse. The first half ended 1-0 in favor of Oman.
Oman came out from the break with renewed vigor as they continued to push forward. Their sustained efforts saw them double the score in the 50th minute. The unguarded Hani Al-Dhabet gave a nice pass to Hashim Saleh, who found himself face to face with the goalie. He put the ball neatly to the right hand side of the hapless UAE goalie.
Oman continued to dominate as UAE rarely made their presence felt throughout the game. And as time wound down, so did UAE efforts. Oman moved to first place with five points, but they could be unseated by either Saudi Arabia or Bahrain, who meet in a key clash. The other match pits Kuwait against Yemen.
West Brom Miss Their Chance
After Wimbledon Scare
West Bromwich missed a golden chance to close the gap on English first division leaders Norwich as they drew 0-0 at bottom club Wimbledon on Tuesday, Reuters add.
A young home side, indeed, had the better chances and could have snatched the result in the 87th minute when Patrick Agyemang was put through on the right only for goalkeeper Russell Hoult to parry his shot with his legs. Second-placed West Bromwich have 47 points, five behind Norwich, after 26 games.
“We were a bit apprehensive and not passing the ball well or taking our chances because of the pressure,” West Brom manager Gary Megson said.
Wimbledon remained bottom with 18 points, 10 behind Burnley who are three places ahead of them and just outside the relegation zone.
Agencies
BERLIN — Arsenal and Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann says he threw the ball at Kevin Phillips after Monday’s Premier League match because the Southampton striker pushed him and stood on his foot.
Lehmann faces being punished by the Football Association after referee Steve Dunn said he would mention the incident, for which the keeper later apologized, in his report of the match won 1-0 by Arsenal.
“He (Phillips) pushed me in the back, and stamped on my foot. Shouldn’t you also be punished for that?” Lehmann said in an interview in yesterday’s edition of Germany’s Bild newspaper. Lehmann, who was warned over his behavior after a number of Arsenal players were involved in a fracas at Manchester United in September, joked he should be banned for a year for what happened after the Southampton game.
“Should they ban me for a year after all?” the 34-year-old keeper said. Bild also published a photograph which showed Southampton midfielder Rory Delap treading on Lehmann’s ankle.
Dutch Midfielder Petta
Joins Fulham on Loan
Premier League Fulham have signed Dutch midfielder Bobby Petta until the end of the season, the club’s official website said yesterday. The Rotterdam-born left-sided player started his career with Feyenoord, before switching to Ipswich in 1996. He signed for Scottish Premier League Celtic on a free transfer in July 1999 and helped the side to a domestic treble in 2001. He was called up by Louis van Gaal to the Netherlands team twice in 2000-01 but missed out on his debut on both occasions because of injury.
