The Saudi national team raised the number of its victories over its Kuwaiti counterpart in the history of their confrontations in the Gulf Cup championship to 6 victories, after deciding the opening of “Gulf 27” in Jeddah with a score of 1-0, adding a new chapter to the record of Gulf confrontations between the two teams.
The sixth victory came after a competitive match between the two teams, before Kuwaiti defender Yousef Al-Haqqan made a mistake and put the ball into the net of his teammate Saud Al-Hoshan from a cross sent by Saudi national team player Hammam Al-Hammami, giving the “Green” a new victory over the “Blue” in the tournament.
Saudi victories over Kuwait began in the Gulf 11 in 1992 in Qatar, when Al-Akhdar was able to achieve a victory with a score of 2-1, after Fahd Al-Muhallal and Khaled Massad scored the goals of the Saudi team, while Ali Marawi scored the goal of Kuwait.
This victory marked the beginning of Saudi Arabia's record of victories in confrontations between the two teams in the tournament, after years of Kuwaiti supremacy.
The second Saudi victory came in the Gulf 12 in 1994, a tournament hosted by the Emirates that witnessed the Saudi team being crowned with its first Gulf title.
Al-Akhdar achieved victory over Kuwait with a brace signed by Fahd Al-Muhallal and Fouad Anwar, so that the Saudi team continued its strong presence in the tournament that ended with it being crowned champion of the Gulf.
In Gulf 14 in 1998 in Bahrain, the Saudi team recorded its third victory over Kuwait, when it prevailed 2-1.
Obaid Al-Dosari was the star of the confrontation, after scoring the two goals of Al-Akhdar, while Hussein Al-Khudari scored the goal of the Kuwaiti team, so that the Saudis continued to add a new victory to the record of Gulf confrontations.
Years later, the Saudi national team returned to the path of victories against Kuwait in the Gulf 19 in 2009 in the Sultanate of Oman, but this time in a more important station, after the semi-final brought together the two teams.
Al-Akhdar decided the confrontation with a goal from Ahmed Al-Faridi, reaching the final and adding a new victory to his record of confrontations with the Kuwaiti team in the tournament.
The fifth victory came on Gulf 23 in 2017 in Kuwait, when the two teams met at the opening of the tournament hosted by Kuwait.
The Saudi team was able to win 2-1, with the goals of Al-Akhdar scored by Salman Al-Muasher and Mukhtar Fallata, while Abdullah Al-Buraiki scored the goal of the Kuwaiti team.
The Saudi victory on Kuwaiti soil added special value to Al-Akhdar’s result in that edition.
In the current Gulf 27, the Saudi team wrote the sixth chapter of its victories over Kuwait in the history of the tournament.
The Saudi goal came through friendly fire from Kuwaiti defender Yousef Al-Haqqan in his team's goal from a cross sent by Saudi national team player Hammam Al-Hammami, giving Al-Akhdar victory in the opening of the tournament, and raising their tally of victories against Kuwait to six.
From Fahd Al-Muhallal and Khaled Massad in Doha in 1992, through Fouad Anwar, Obaid Al-Dosari, Ahmed Al-Faridi, Salman Al-Muasher and Mukhtar Fallatah, all the way to defender Youssef Al-Haqqan, who scored against his Kuwaiti team in Jeddah, the record of Saudi victories over Kuwait extended over more than three decades, so that the Green-Blue confrontations remain one of the most prominent chapters in the historical memory of the Gulf Cup Championship.
The Greek Donis, the coach of the Saudi national team, stressed the importance of winning the opening match against Kuwait and getting the three points in “Gulf 27”.
Denis said during the press conference after the confrontation: First, I congratulate you on the occasion of Saudi National Day, and I would like to congratulate the large fans who were beside us and supported us from the first second until the end of the match. This was our first match today and it was very important for us to win; The players did their best, but we must improve our decisions in difficult moments, as we have quality and brilliant players.”
He added: We created many chances today, but we have to address this problem step by step. We don't want to create 22 chances and score just one goal. Rather, we want to create five good chances and score from them. It is good that we continue to create big chances, but our team must make the right decisions at the right time inside the opponent's penalty area.
He explained: I have been in Saudi Arabia since 2015, and I recently spent 8 years here, and I know the amount of opportunities the national team created in the past. For me, the team was great at the World Cup, and I think we performed well against Spain, and to some extent against Cape Verde.
In response to a question about evaluating offensive performance and the decline in scoring compared to chances, Donis explained: When we want to analyze something, we have to look at it from both sides. Sometimes it is difficult to score because chances are not created in the first place, but today we created many of them, and we made the right decisions at times while we were not able to do so at other times. The most important thing is to gain the confidence and calm that enables us to make the appropriate decision. We now have different generations of experienced and young players, and we are trying to find the right balance between them.
Regarding the brilliance of Hammam Al-Hammami, Denis pointed out: We have to be realistic when talking about our players, such as Hammam Al-Hammami, Saleh Abu Al-Shamat, and Musaab Al-Jawir. These players need enough playing minutes with their clubs to gain confidence in their abilities. Abdullah Al-Hamdan is often a reserve, and Hammam did not participate much, nor did Saleh Abu Al-Shamat, who received limited minutes with his club. Players really need to participate with their clubs to gain confidence in their skills.
Al-Akhdar coach added, commenting on hiring Hammam and giving him confidence: I try to give the players confidence and calm in the national team, and this is one of my priorities, and they can gain that match after match. Hammam was not playing as a left winger in Al-Shabab Club due to the presence of Yannick Carrasco, but when Carrasco was injured, Hammam participated in this position and gave a distinguished performance. I told him before the match: “Don’t try to prove anything,” and he actually gave a very special performance.”
Regarding the upcoming confrontation against the Omani national team, Denis stressed: “I believe that we have a better and stronger team, and we will try with all our strength to achieve victory in the next match.”
Mohamed Salah, captain of the Egyptian national football team, thanked the Egyptian state and the Egyptian Football Association for their support of the team before facing Angola in the first round of the second group of qualifiers for the 2027 African Cup of Nations.
Salah said, during the visit of Gohar Nabil, the Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports, to the (Pharaohs) team’s training session, that the team has achieved successes that have pleased the Egyptian people since the start of the work of the technical staff led by Hossam Hassan and Ibrahim Hassan three years ago and presented an honorable image of Egyptian football.
He added that he is always keen to remind the players that they should be proud of what they have presented and make every effort to continue making the Egyptian fans happy.
The Egyptian Minister of Youth and Sports had visited the national team’s training session before facing Angola and was received by Hani Abu Rida, President of the Egyptian Football Association.
The minister conveyed to the players the greetings of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, stressing the state’s continued support for the national teams.
Nabil praised the development of the team's performance and the spirit of its players during the recent period, and said that its match against Argentina received wide attention and demonstrated its ability to confront and compete with major teams.
The minister expressed his confidence in the players and the technical staff and their ability to make a strong start in the qualifiers and make the Egyptian fans happy.
The confrontation with Angola will be the first for the Egyptian national team after its historic participation in the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada in the summer of this year, which witnessed the team qualifying for the round of 16 in the World Cup for the first time, before suffering a dramatic loss with a score of 2/3 against its Argentine counterpart in the last moments, after it was ahead of the world champions at the time with a score of 2/0, a few minutes before the end of the match.
It is noteworthy that the second group of the 2027 African Nations qualifiers in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda also includes the teams of Malawi and South Sudan.
