JEDDAH, 28 January 2007 — One of the two teams to have never won in the past will be crowned the new Gulf Cup champion on Tuesday after UAE and Oman reached the final of the 18th championship with thrilling semifinal victories last night.
UAE buried the nagging failures of 1994 and 1996 against Saudi Arabia under a clever goal in injury time from star striker Ismaeel Matar to score a 1-0 victory that sealed the final match against Oman.
Oman hammered out a 1-0 triumph against Bahrain thanks to a 55th minute strike from Bader Al-Maymani in the first semifinal match in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Unbeaten Oman and hosts UAE now contest the trophy with both teams seeking to join Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq and Kuwait in the roll of winners in the region’s most prestigious football tournament.
Saudi Arabia, the three times champions, simply failed to solve the riddle that was Matar, who was tightly marked throughout the match but then got away from his pursuers to hit the winner with a minute gone in injury time. The victory was a fitting redemption for UAE losses against the Saudi side in the 1994 Gulf Cup finale and 1996 Asian Cup final on UAE’s home soil.
The Saudis played better for most of the match, but they lost to a tough and much more determined opponents who delivered on their promise not to repeat the losses against the Kingdom in front of the home fans. As expected, Matar cashed in on the opportunity and all he needed was few seconds to seal the match and take UAE to the final. He managed to take the ball inside the penalty box in the last minute of the match and shot a nice low shot that went straight into the right hand side of the goalie.
Both teams had a slow start probing each other lines. Malek Muaz first tested the UAE goalie in the 12th minute with a nice shot from outside the penalty box. Both teams realized that the strikers would decide the match so the Kingdom’s Al-Qahtani and Muaz were sealed off by UAE defenders and Matar denied a chance to get a piece of the ball by Saudi defenders. Saudi Arabia missed a golden chance to open the score in the 39th minute after Al-Qahtani’s shot from inside the penalty box crossed the top of the bar. Matar nearly scored a perfect goal for UAE in the 41st minute when a through ball was sent in his direction only for the Saudi goalie to collect it even before he could reach it.
Saudi Arabia began pushing forward in the second half. Al-Qahtani broke free in the minutes 55 minutes and outmaneuvered two UAE defenders for a nice shot that was blocked by the goalkeeper. UAE struck back two minutes after that with Matter feeding a pass to Faisal Khalil inside the penalty box but his attempt went way over the top bar.
As Saudis assumed control, UAE had to rely on fast counter attacks. All of UAE is expected to stay awake until the wee hours of the morning as the country celebrates the big victory. Like the UAE, Oman are one match away from a historic first championship crown in the competition after beating Bahrain. Al-Maymani’s winning goal came from a fine header that went on the right hand side of the goalie who watched helplessly as the ball settled into the back of the net. Oman reached the final of the last competition but lost against Qatar 5-4. Oman now faces a tough UAE squad who will enjoy support of their home crowd.
