The Saudi Falcons continued to fly in the atmosphere of the 27th Gulf Cup Championship in Jeddah, searching for the title that has been absent for many years, after their victory on Tuesday over Iraq with two unanswered goals.
Saudi Arabia raised its score to 9 points in the lead, and the players celebrated for a long time with their fans as a result of the outstanding performance and successive victories in this tournament, while the stands chanted, “Oh Saudi... Mashallah.”
Although the first half did not live up to expectations, the Saudi Greens, which made extensive changes to their lineup, were the better side for most of their periods. Saudi Arabia’s attacks initially lacked danger, until Al-Salem rose to the cross with his header next to the post (18), followed by Muhammad Abu Al-Shamat with a powerful shot that slightly overcame the crossbar (24).
The Australian coach for Iraq, Graham Arnold, made an emergency substitution with Ibrahim Bayesh replacing defender Mustafa Saadoun one minute before the end of the first half. Abdullah Al Salem opened the scoring by taking advantage of a set piece played inside the penalty area and a joint defensive error between the defense and goalkeeper Ahmed Basil to deposit the ball into the goal (54).
Saudi coach Donis brought in Saleh Al-Shehri and Firas Al-Braikan instead of Al-Salem and Sultan Mandash, in exchange for three Iraqi substitutions with the entry of Ayman Hussein, Ahmed Yahya, and Zidane Iqbal instead of Hassan Abdul Karim, Karar Nabil, and Ahmed Qasim. From a quick attack, Al-Hamdan added the second goal for Saudi Arabia from a fast rebound ball and a smart pass, which he shot with a powerful shot into the goal (68).
Iraq had an opportunity to reduce the gap, but Abdul-Ilah Al-Omari succeeded in clearing the ball for the corner (79), before Ali Jassim shot a powerful ball that passed near the post (81).
Dr. Khaled Al-Muqrin, Chairman of the Competitions Committee of the Gulf Football Association, confirmed that the draw that decided the qualification of the Omani team to the semi-finals at the expense of Iraq was in accordance with the approved regulations for the tournament, indicating that all participating federations were aware of the criteria for deciding qualification.
Speaking to the media after the draw, Al-Muqrin said: This version is unique and historic, and this case occurs for the first time, but everything went according to the regulations.
Regarding the controversy that accompanied the resort to drawing lots, and the reported objection from the Iraqi side, he said: I am not aware of any objection, and I work according to the regulations.
The head of the competitions committee confirmed that the Omani and Iraqi federations were aware of the list, adding: Everyone has representatives in the representation office, and they approved the list, and they also have representatives in the competitions committee, and therefore everyone is aware of it.
Regarding the Omani team’s celebration of qualifying after its match against Kuwait, before later announcing the draw, Al-Muqrin stressed the existence of prior awareness of the regulations, saying: There is awareness, and there is a representative for each team.
Al-Muqrin denied that the classification of the teams would be among the criteria for deciding in the event of a tie, stressing that the classification “does not exist” within the criteria for determining qualification.
He revealed that the Iraqi and Omani teams were equal even in terms of cards, and said: The Omani team had eight yellow warnings, and the Iraqi team also had eight warnings, and therefore the two teams were equal in warnings.
Regarding what was said about the presence of additional cards on Iraqi players against the backdrop of the events that accompanied the confrontation with Kuwait, Al-Muqrin explained that the Competitions Committee only approves officially recorded warnings from the refereeing team, and he said: The warnings come from the referees, and we calculate the warnings found in the report and signed by the referee. Whether the card is due or not is another matter.
Al-Muqrin stressed the importance of fair play in such cases, saying: This is an opportunity for the players to realize that fair play has become essential in football, as warnings may cost the teams, and it is not a new standard today, and qualification in other tournaments has previously been decided through fair play.
The Saudi national team continued to lead the teams with the most victories in the history of the Gulf Cup, after defeating its Iraqi counterpart with two goals to none, adding its third consecutive victory in the current edition, and raising its historical tally to 63 victories.
Al-Akhdar entered the confrontation with Iraq with 62 wins from 119 matches, before the new victory gave him his 63rd victory during the 120 matches he played in the tournament across 26 participations.
After facing Iraq, the Saudi team’s historical record in the Gulf Cup includes 63 wins, 25 draws, and 32 losses, maintaining its position at the forefront of the Gulf teams in terms of the number of wins.
Al-Akhdar is ahead by four victories over the Kuwaiti team, which holds the record for the number of championship titles with ten titles, and which has 59 wins in 122 matches, compared to 26 draws and 37 losses.
The Qatari team comes next with 44 victories in 121 matches, then the UAE team with 43 victories in 119 matches, while the Iraqi team has 34 victories in 71 matches, according to the historical numbers shown in the tournament statistics before updating the results of the current version for each team.
The Saudi national team had begun its campaign in “Gulf 27” by defeating Kuwait with a goal to none, then it defeated Oman with three clean goals, before continuing its victories against Iraq with two goals without a response, achieving three successive victories in its three matches in the group stage.
The victory over Iraq reinforces Saudi Arabia’s remarkable start in the current edition, after the victory over Oman had given Al-Akhdar the first two consecutive victories at the beginning of their Gulf Cup campaign since the 1979 edition, when they beat the UAE 2-1 and then Oman 4-0.
With the third successive victory against Iraq, the series extended to three matches in the current edition.
Although Kuwait leads the tournament's historical record in terms of the number of titles with ten, compared to four for Iraq and three each for Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Al-Akhdar maintains the lead in the total number of victories, expanding the gap over his closest competitor to four victories.
