The nightmare of injuries continues to haunt the Saudi national team in its journey in the 27th Gulf Cup, as Zakaria Hawsawi was its latest victim, during Iraq’s last match in the group stage.
The field difficulties faced by the opponents were not the only obstacle facing the technical staff. Rather, the successive physical attacks were the most ferocious opponent, which deprived the team of important elements and distorted the stability of the starting lineup from the first moments of the tournament.
The suffering began very early in the first confrontation against the Kuwaiti national team, when goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi suffered a sudden injury that forced the medical staff to completely exclude him from the list. An early strike that confused the calculations in the back line and put the technical staff under pressure to search for alternative and quick solutions in a center that requires the highest levels of stability and mental focus. This incident was just the beginning of a series of health crises that will cast a shadow over the rest of the journey.
The pain of the first match had hardly subsided before the second match came, doubling the “Green” crisis, as injuries extended to the focal point, Alaa Hajji, along with defender Hassan Kadish, who also left due to injury and was officially excluded from the calculations.
These double absences were not limited to depriving the team of effective rotation, but also emptied the defense line and midfield of important pillars who have the ability to lead and direct the team in critical moments.
In the final scene of these unfortunate events, bad luck continued to haunt the Saudi contingent during the third match against the Iraqi team, after player Zakaria Hawsawi was forced to leave the field due to injury, adding his name to the list of injured people.
Four painful blows in three consecutive matches paint a clear picture of the harsh conditions that the Saudi national team is going through in this tournament, and put its technical staff and players before an exceptional challenge that requires redoubled effort and combat to compensate for this continuous human bleeding.
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.
