On Saturday evening, the attention of football fans turns towards the city of Jeddah, where the anticipated confrontations will be held at the “Gulf 27” semi-final station, as the Saudi national team collides with its Qatari counterpart at Al-Enmaa Stadium, in King Abdullah Sports City, while the Emirati and Omani national teams meet at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium.
The four teams enter the semi-final battle carrying a long legacy in the history of the tournament, where the language of numbers dominates the scene before the starting whistle, putting historical superiority on one hand, and the ambitions of decisiveness on the other hand.
The confrontation between Saudi Arabia and Qatar opens the history book in the Gulf tournaments with 22 previous matches, during which “Al-Akhdar” has the advantage by achieving 10 victories, compared to only 3 victories for “Al-Anabi”, while there were draws in 9 previous confrontations.
The attacking strength of the Saudi side was embodied in scoring 34 goals, compared to 14 goals for the Qatari team.
The Saudi team enters the match with a technical and moral advantage, after enhancing its record in this edition with 3 consecutive victories and a complete clean sheet during the group stage, to collide with the Qatari team, who qualified as runner-up in the second group, in a rematch of the “Gulf 24” semi-final in Doha, which “Al-Akhdar” won with a clean goal.
In the second meeting, the “White” and “Red” derby will be renewed in an Emirati-Omani confrontation bearing the number 23 in the history of the Gulf Cup tournaments, and the language of numbers favors the UAE team with 12 victories, compared to 3 victories for the Omani team, while 7 matches ended in a draw.
The Emirati attack scored 26 goals compared to 13 goals for the Oman national team, and this confrontation bears a special character that brings to mind two historic finals between the two parties. The first was in “Gulf 18” in 2007, when Al-Abyad won the title, and the second was in “Gulf 23” in 2018, when Oman’s Red won the title on penalties, which adds complex tactical and psychological dimensions to the qualification struggle.
Despite the digital evidence that favors the Saudi “green” and the Emirati “white,” throughout the extended history of the regional championship, the reality of the knockout rounds imposes different tactical provisions that go beyond the legacy of the past. Technical readiness and the ability to deal with public pressures inside the green rectangle and exploit small details is the real deciding factor in such major dates.
Between the desire of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates to confirm field advantage and reach the coronation scene, and the efforts of Qatar and Oman to break historical records and formulate a new reality on the field, the final cards remain pending until the final moments of the ninety minutes, and perhaps beyond that until extra times and penalty kicks.
Moroccan Tariq Al-Saktiwi, coach of the Omani national team, confirmed the readiness of his team to face the Emirates in the semi-finals of the Arabian Gulf Cup “Gulf 27”, stressing that reaching this stage came after overcoming difficult circumstances, and that his players deserve praise apart from criticism.
Al-Saktiwi said in the press conference: “We are mentally, physically and health-wise ready for the confrontation, and we have one last training session remaining. Everyone expected Oman to leave, but from my experience and experience, football is a school in life that goes beyond the green rectangle, and every day it gives us greater lessons than football.”
The Oman coach asked that any criticism be directed towards him away from his players, saying: “Whoever wants to criticize should direct his criticism to me only.” The players are doing a wonderful job, and we have players with great experience, as well as young players whose age does not allow them to be burdened with all this criticism.”
Regarding facing the UAE, Al-Saktiwi said: “We do not underestimate ourselves, and at the same time we respect our competitors. We respect the UAE as we respect all the teams we face. The semi-final speaks for itself, and within 90 minutes there are no differences between the two teams. We will face a good team, and we are also a team that is developing and growing as the competition progresses.”
Al-Saktiwi praised the work being done by the UAE national team, adding: “The UAE is proceeding according to planning that began years ago to build a distinguished team for the future. We will face a strong and cohesive team that has a good group and distinguished elements.”
In his response to an Iraqi journalist’s apology for what some Iraqi media outlets said after the last round of the group stage, Al-Saktiwi said: “I salute the brotherly, beautiful and sophisticated Iraqi people. Football is a game that brings people together, and when the final whistle blows, everything ends.”
For his part, Hussein Al Shehri, a player for the Omani national team, affirmed his confidence in his team’s ability to compete, saying: “The UAE national team is large and has excellent elements, but we do not underestimate ourselves. “We will play 11 players against 11, and we hope to reach the final.”
