JEDDAH, 25 December 2004 — Qatar beat Oman in a tense penalty shootout 5-4 yesterday to win the 17th Gulf Cup in an amazing performance that brought back memories of 1992 when they hosted and won as well the premier soccer event in the region.
The regulation period ended 1-1 and the highly charged final match in Doha dragged on into a shootout after the two extra times produced no result.
In the end it was Qatar that savored the sweet taste of their second win against arguably the best team in the tournament.
Qatar goalkeeper Mohammad Saqr was the hero of the math as he saved the last attempt by Oman with a well-timed execution the ball catching his outstretched hands on the right side and rebounding off the goal post.
The partisan crowd then erupted into a frenzy after that Saqr heroics.
The game match had all the trappings of a championship battle between the two best teams to emerge in the elite eight-team tournament.
Oman were looking to win their first Gulf Cup their history with a young team.
But the day simply belonged to Qatar who held their nerves in the face of a determined push for a clincher by Oman late in regulation period.
Renowned for their attacking football to the point of forgetting about defense, Oman in the end lived and died with their strategy.
In winning the title before their adoring home crowd Qatar beat Oman twice in the tournament having also won 2-1 during the group matches.
Qatar relied heavily on fast counter attacks featuring their quick-footed stars Sayed Al-Basheer and Hussein Yaser Muhammadi.
A goal in the third minute, deemed the fastest in the tournament, by Wesam Rizk who headed the ball following a free kick by Waleed Jasim that rebounded after it got contact with Omani goalie Ali Al-Hibsi got the ball rolling for Qatar.
Oman played calmly after the goal and mounted fine attacks on Qatari territory. The equalizer nearly came in the 11th minute when Emad Sulaiman received a nice cross in front of the goal but badly missed his attempt.
Oman continued to push forward and scored the equalizer in the 25th minute by Badr Al-Maymani who pounced on the error of the Qatari goalie who tried to steer the ball clear but was blocked by Emad and landed in front of Badr who floated the ball into the net.
Oman continued to push forward and assumed control of the midfield and was able to stop most Qatar counter attacks before they even reached the Oman half side of the field. All Qatar attempts were deflected by the easily the best goalie of the tournament in Al-Hibsi.
Oman played the second half attacking and determined to finish the game before it went extra time. Fawzi Basheer nearly scored in two occasions when his strong shot from outside the penalty box in the 65th minute hit the crossbar.
The second chance came in the 74th minute also from a nice shot outside the penalty box this time inches of the right post. Qatar continued to play excellent defense in an effort to contain Oman’s top strikers Emad and Badr.
This did not prevent Emad from causing trouble to Qatar defenders and nearly scored the winner in the 88th minute when he received the ball inside the penalty box and was able to dip it over the goalie but was cleared by defenders.
In the extra time, it was clear that Oman was in better shape because all their players are under the age of 26. After 120 exhausting minutes there was no result still and both teams went to penalty kicks to determine the champion.
The first penalty kick was taken by Qatari Naser Kameel whose shot was nicely saved by Oman goalie. Badr Al-Mahroqi from Oman scored the first penalty kick leading the shootut 1-0 for Oman. Saad Al-Shammari from Qatar and Hassan Mudaffar from Oman both made their shots. Waleed Hamza from Qatar and Fawzi Basheer from Oman scored the third penalty kicks. Wesam Rizk from Qatar and Ahmad Mubarak both converted, giving Oman 4-3 lead in the shootout .
The five penalty awards had been all taken by both teams with the score at 4-4 after Hani Al-Dhabet missed the chance to seal the game for Oman.
Both teams missed the next two shots and in their turn for the eighth penalty Qatar converted through Yousif Shaban and Oman striker Emad Sulaiman missed giving the match to the hosts.
