The UAE secured its qualification to the semi-finals at the top of Group Two after tying with runner-up Qatar 1-1 in the third and final round of the group stage of the Gulf Football Cup “Gulf 27” in Jeddah.
Ali Saleh scored the equalizer for the UAE (45+4) after Qatar had taken the lead with a goal from Almoez Ali (32).
In the semi-finals, on Saturday, the UAE will play against Oman, second in the first group, and Qatar will play against Saudi Arabia, which leads the first.
The two teams entered the match after ensuring their advancement to the next round by collecting 6 points from two successive wins, with the UAE having an advantage on goal difference, and a draw was enough for it to maintain the lead, and this is what it achieved.
The two teams made radical changes to their lineups compared to the ones they played in the first two matches.
The UAE started the match with a noticeable advantage by controlling and building attacks, and Fabio Lima opened its chances with a shot from a free kick that was blocked by Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abu Nada (12).
But it was Qatar that took the lead after a cross from Jassim Jaber, which Almoez Ali shot past goalkeeper Hamad Al-Muqbali, who played for the first time in the tournament as a substitute for Khaled Issa (32).
The goal was the first that the UAE received after two clean-sheet matches.
The UAE responded quickly with a shot from defender Khaled Al Dhanhani, after an individual effort, but his ball passed next to the post (38).
Qatar made an emergency change, with Abdelaziz Hatem replacing the injured Mohamed Manai (41).
The UAE leveled the balance after Al-Dhanhani played a cross that Hatem headed weakly, and Ali Saleh shot it creeping into Abu Nada’s net (45+4), so that “Al-Annabi”, like its opponent, received the first goal in the tournament.
Substitute Bala Guillerme almost scored the lead for the Emirates, but Abu Nada blocked his shot brilliantly (74).
The medical file imposed itself on the Saudi national team’s preparations for the semi-finals of the Arabian Gulf Cup “Gulf 27”, with Hassan Timbukti and Zakaria Hawsawi continuing their treatment programs, coinciding with Al-Akhdar’s return to training on Wednesday evening after facing Iraq.
Timbukti was content to continue his treatment program accompanied by the medical team, while Hawsawi also underwent a treatment program, while technical director Georgios Donis distributed the rest of the players into two groups during the session that was held in the gym at the team’s residence.
The first group was allocated to the players who mainly participated against Iraq on Tuesday, where they performed recovery exercises, while the second group underwent various physical exercises through a number of stations.
Al-Akhdar continues his preparations on Thursday evening, as he conducts his training session on Thursday at the training fields at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, at seven in the evening, as part of his preparations for facing the semi-finals.
The first 15 minutes of the training session will be available to the media.
After a long absence due to injury, Salem Al-Dosari, captain of Al-Hilal team, participated, on Wednesday evening, in the first part of his team’s group training, after he nearly completed his rehabilitation program to recover from his injury to the patellar tendon of the right knee.
Al-Dosari suffered an injury to the patellar tendon in his right knee, which has kept him from playing with his team since the start of the current season. As a result, he underwent surgery, after his suffering from it increased during his participation with the Saudi national team in the last World Cup. After the injury worsened, it was decided to undergo surgery on July 21, before he then entered a rehabilitation program that he was close to completing, as he will be ready to participate in his team’s next match against Al-Ittihad after the competition resumes after the end of the period. International stop.
In a related context, English striker Ollie Watkins, Al Hilal striker, participated in his team’s group training, after recovering from the lower back injury he sustained before the start of the current hiatus.
The injury prevented the English striker from participating with Al Hilal against Al Gharafa of Qatar in the opening of Al Zaeem’s campaign in the AFC Champions League for the Elite, the last match that Al Azraq played before the start of the current international break.
On the other hand, the French duo, Theo Hernandez and Hamad Al-Yami, performed fitness exercises and exercises using the ball, as part of their qualifying programs.
Al Hilal players returned to their training on Wednesday evening, after finishing the 9-day leave granted to them by Italian coach Simone Inzaghi, the team’s coach, due to the cessation of competitions due to the current international break, in preparation for the confrontations again after their return, as the team’s first match after the break will be against Al-Ittihad on October 10 in the eighth round of the Saudi Professional League.
