JEDDAH, 24 January 2007 — For UAE the name of the game was to get in at all costs to avoid the backlash of an increasingly impatient home crowd. They did get through to the semifinals thanks to an injury time goal that gave the hosts a 3-2 victory over Kuwait yesterday in one of two concluding Group A matches in the 18th Gulf Cup Championship in Dubai.
A draw would have been enough for UAE to qualify although the victory allowed them to keep pace with early qualifiers from the group, Oman, who qualified first with a procedural 2-1 victory over Yemen in the day’s other match.
Oman play the second semifinalist from Group B with second-ranked UAE to face the winner of the group in the knockout stage of the competition.
The UAE fans had to hold their breath until injury time for official announcement that the team had qualified. The match mirrored the UAE -Yemen tie with UAE scoring yet another bullet goal in the first minute of the match. Ismael Matar, the star of the match and UAE’s best striker, drew first blood from a nice ball that he took inside the penalty box from where he launched a nice shot between defenders on the right hand side of the goalie. With this promising start, UAE pushed forward in search of another goal that would paralyze the already stunned Kuwaiti team.
In the 31st minute, Badr Al-Mutawa made a well-taken shot from outside the penalty box that was deflected by a UAE player and went past the left hand side of the goalie. The joy of the Kuwait equalizer lasted a mere two minutes when Faisal Khalil notched the second goal for UAE. The Kuwaitis returned the favor to UAE in the same two-minute span and the first half ended level at 2-2.
The first half goals were more the result of poor defending skills than good offense by both teams. UAE took control having learned that Oman were leading Yemen in the other match. And the UAE players decided to qualify not with a mere draw in the last match.
Matar raced down the far left side of the field taking advantage of Kuwaiti players who were pushing forward to score an equalizer in the injury time and creating a major gap in the back.
Matar then managed to take the ball inside the penalty box and with his rocket shot smashed the Kuwaiti net on the left hand side of the goalie who could not do anything to stop the ball. The late goal, described as a no-mercy bullet, killed the Kuwaiti hopes in the match.
Sultan Al-Turki scored another first minute goal of the tournament for Oman. Yemen equalized later in the ninth minute from a nice header. Ahmad Al-Busafi gave Oman a 2-1 lead in the 43rd minute which had stood till the end of the contest.
Meanwhile in Group B, Saudi Arabia and Iraq clash today in a tough match that would determine the winner of the group. The match will be played simultaneously with the Bahrain-Qatar tie.
Saudi Arabia lead the group of death with 4 points from two matches. Saudi Arabia won the opening match against Bahrain 2-1 and tied in the second against Qatar 1-1. Iraq defeated Qatar in the first match 1-0 and tied drew with Bahrain 1-1 in the second.
Saudi Arabia and Iraq enter the match both with three chances to qualify for the semifinals. Saudi Arabia could win the match, draw at any score to qualify straight into the next round. If Saudi Arabia lose the match they can still qualify if Qatar and Bahrain drew their match. The Kingdom would exit the competition if they lose against Iraq and either Qatar or Bahrain win by 3-0 at least to qualify in second place. Still the Saudis have excellent chances to qualify if only for the fact that they have one of the strongest strike forces in Malek Muaz and Yasser Al-Qahtani. Saudi Arabia’s weakest line is the defense. Saudi coach Marcos Paqueta is expected to use the 4-4-2 format basically because the team don’t have to deal with that much pressure in the match.
The Iraqi situation is similar to that of the Saudis’. Both teams could qualify automatically to the next round with a simple draw in their match. That would increase their tally to 5 points and leave them unmatchable. Four points are all that will be gained from a win by either Qatar or Bahrain.
Despite their limited preparation as a result of their country’s political situation Iraq are not about to give the competition a joyride saying that they mean business.
Both Bahrain and Qatar face elimination as they lost the only chance to stay alive after Qatar drew with Saudi Arabia 1-1 and Bahrain against Iraq 1-1 in the second matches of the group. Now their fate is totally dependent on the Saudi match against Iraq with one eye on this match and the other on their own match. Qatar suffered a defeat against Iraq in the opening match 1-0 and scrambled for a 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia. Bahrain lost the first match against Saudi Arabia 2-1 and failed to deliver a victory against Iraq and tied 1-1. Saudi Arabia and Iraq are widely tipped to make the next round as dark horse Bahrain and defending champions Qatar failed to produce a good performance that would guarantee them a spot in the semifinals.
