JEDDAH, 19 January 2007 — Saudi Arabia had to sweat it out in their Group B opener against Bahrain in the 18th Gulf Cup competition in Abu Dhabi yesterday. Saudi Arabia won the match 2-1.

Talal Yousuf gave Bahrain an early lead when he scored in the 14th minute of the first half. He converted a penalty kick into a neat goal. The penalty kick was a result of Saudi defender Naif Al-Ghadi tackling a Bahraini striker inside the box.

Saudi Arabia played aggressive and desperate football looking for an equalizer. At the back of the Saudi players’ mind was indeed the realization that they had to win the game against Bahrain to keep their chances alive in the competition. If they had lost the opening match against Bahrain, it would have been even more difficult for the Saudis to take on Qatar and Iraq, both relatively tough teams, in the next matches. The much-needed equalizer came in the 26th minute when Bahraini defender Muhammad Hussain tackled Malek Muaz the wrong way inside the penalty box. Saudi striker Yasser Al-Qahtani scored a fine goal for Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi appetite for more goals was whetted with the equalizer. The team launched repeated attacks against Bahrain. Muaz and Al-Qahtani led the charge but all their efforts were neutralized by the Bahraini defense. Amid the Saudi charge, Bahrain’s Muhammad Adnan was shown a red card and sent out in the 34th minute of the first half for tackling Muaz the wrong way. The referee’s decision met with strong opposition from the Bahrainis. Saudi Arabia displayed a much improved game in the second half. Muaz came close to scoring a second goal for Saudi Arabia seven minutes into the second half with a full-blooded shot that just went above the bar. Bahrain’s mission turned impossible when their defender Muhammad Hussain received a second yellow card and was given the marching orders with a red card. The player was taken off the field by his fellow players and team administration officials after he refused to accept the referee’s decision. Left with nine players inside the field, the Bahraini team had no option but to play defensive. Talal Yousuf, however, continued to plow a lone furrow despite the odds and launched some nice counterattacks.

Saudi Arabia assumed total control of the match taking advantage of the depleted Bahraini side. The Saudi team was literally playing in the Bahrain side of the field. The winning goal came in the 89th minute. It was Yasser Al-Qahtani who scored a brilliant goal by kicking the ball from a corner that was deflected by Bahraini defender Ibraheem Al-Mashkhas only to land on right hand side of the goal.

The tough victory against a relatively weaker Bahraini team has raised questions in the minds of Saudi fans. They were not happy with the team’s performance.

Mohsin Al-Shaibani, a Saudi fan, said credit should go to Bahrain for Saudi victory. “They lost the match rather than we won it. Our team was not effective and the decision to substitute Malek Muaz with Saleh Basheer was a bad decision; it affected our team,” he said. Another Saudi fan said the difficulty with which they won yesterday’s match was not a good augury. “The next two matches against Qatar and Iraq are going to be even more tougher. I am not optimistic at all. The Bahraini team was in the end short of two players and yet they managed to hold the Saudi team till the last minute. That speaks a lot about the Saudi team,” he added.

In the second match of the same group, defending champion Qatar suffered a 1-0 defeat against Iraq. The Iraqi team earned three points and now share the lead with the Saudi team. The only goal of the match came in the 40th minute of the first half from midfielder Hawar Mulla Muhammad.

Iraq was better organized. But the Qatari side played real hard in the second half trying to score an equalizer. Today is a rest day. Matches will resume tomorrow when Kuwait will take on Oman in the first Group A encounter while UAE will play Yemen in the second.