Tariq Salman, the Qatari national team player, expressed his happiness over the win over Yemen with a goal to none and the qualification to the semi-finals of the Gulf Cup “Gulf 27”, noting that not taking advantage of the opportunities made the confrontation more difficult until its final minutes.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat after the match, Salman said: “Praise be to God in any case. The match was difficult, and we had many opportunities, but we did not take advantage of them from the beginning. If we had succeeded in settling the match early and scoring goals, that would have helped us a lot, even in terms of making changes and resting some players, but we were not successful in that, and we made the match somewhat difficult for ourselves.”
He added: “Possession was in our favor, as were the chances, but the match remained open until the last minute, and we needed to focus so that the Yemeni team did not take advantage of one of the opportunities and score a goal that would put them back in the match.”
Jordan blew its lead to draw 1-1 with its host Syria in a friendly match, on Sunday, in preparation for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, after Jean Mustafa scored a goal in the second half to cancel out Ali Alwan’s goal.
Syria almost took the lead in the 22nd minute after Jordanian goalkeeper Alec Samir, who was born in the United States, made a mistake in dealing with a long pass from the middle of the field, but the ball deflected off the goal line.
Striker Alwan was able to give Jordan the lead 7 minutes before the break, after receiving a pass from his colleague Odeh Al Fakhoury, the Egyptian Pyramids player, and fired a shot with his left foot from outside the penalty area that landed in the lower left corner of goalkeeper Elias Hadiya.
Jordan's control continued at the beginning of the second half, but Syria's Mahmoud Al-Aswad was able to lead a counterattack and prepare the ball for his teammate Mustafa, who took possession of the ball, penetrated into the penalty area and shot from close range to score the equalizer in the 52nd minute.
Jordan plays in the second group of the Asian Cup alongside Bahrain, North Korea, and Uzbekistan, and Syria competes in the third group with Iran, China, and Kyrgyzstan.
The tournament will be held in Saudi Arabia from January 7th to February 5th.
Algerian Noureddine Ould Ali, coach of the Yemen national team, confirmed that they sought to produce a positive performance against Qatar, and they repaid their attention to what happened in their first match against the UAE by presenting a performance different from the previous one.
Ould Ali said in the press conference after their confrontation with Qatar, which they lost 0-1: “We wanted to rehabilitate the performance and result, as I said before the match. We tried during the 70 minutes to keep up with the game, but after the goal, we made mistakes. I congratulate the Qatar national team for the victory, and I wish us success in the future.”
Regarding the distinguished performance of his players during the first half, was the physical factor a reason for the decline in the level during the second half? He answered: “Today the performance was very high according to the players’ capabilities, and I believe that the team’s mental and focus declined in the second half, due to the humidity and high temperature, but it is not a major reason, and it is on us and the Qatari team. I also do not want to talk about arbitration matters, and I am happy with the team’s performance in general, and the positives during this tournament are many.”
He added: “In general, the league has been suspended in Yemen for two years. Will I compete against World Cup teams like Qatar, and players who play at higher levels and in strong leagues? But apart from these factors, I believe in the development of Yemeni football, God willing, in the future.”
