Algerian Noureddine Ould Ali, coach of the Yemeni team, confirmed that the technical staff will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the team’s participation in the Arabian Gulf Cup “Gulf 27”, after the end of the tournament, in preparation for the upcoming competitions, most notably the Asian Cup.
Ould Ali said, during the press conference preceding the confrontation with Bahrain: “After this tournament, we will analyze everything we have done, and we will have two preparatory matches next November, in preparation for the Asian Cup.”
The Yemeni coach stressed the importance of players gaining experience playing at higher competitive levels, saying: “Players must know what it means to play at a high level, and this is our responsibility and their responsibility as well, by getting more participation minutes with their clubs.”
Regarding his choices for the national team roster, Ould Ali stressed that his main criterion is the level presented by the player. He said: “If there is a player in Yemen who can play at a high level, welcome him to the national team. “I don’t care about what happens outside the field, what matters to me is what I see in training and matches.”
He sent a message to the Yemeni media, saying: “My message to journalists is to create competition between players, instead of supporting specific names. My criterion is what the player offers on the field and in training.”
Speaking about the reality of the Yemeni national team and football, Ould Ali said: “I will be a little harsh in my answer; The reality of Yemen is not what some might imagine or adopt in their presentation, and we must be realistic.”
Kuwait dominated the shooting competitions in the “trap” category by winning two golds and two bronzes, as part of an Arab tally of 5 colored medals at the 20th Asian Games held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on Tuesday.
Kuwaiti Khaled Al-Mudhaf won the individual dirt gold in an exciting final that was decided in the last moments by scoring 26 plates, a new record for the Asian Games, one plate ahead of the former Asian champion and 2018 Jakarta medal holder, Kun-Pei Yang, from Chinese Taipei, who won the silver.
The 2024 Olympic silver medalist and Hangzhou gold medalist two years earlier, Chinese Ying Ai Qiu, won the bronze medal.
Al-Mudhaf, who was crowned world champion in 2002, after being overcome with tears and appearing emotional, said to the Qatari beIN Sports channel: “One plate leads you to gold, and I did not know what the result was. I was concentrating to hit my plate, and I did not know what was happening, but when I saw my colleagues screaming while I was preparing to complete the shooting from so much concentration, I did not realize that it was the last plate.”
Al-Mudhaf tied his neck with yellow metal in archery for the second time in a matter of hours after he led the men’s team to win first place with 355 bowls in a final that witnessed pure Arab competition, with Qatar occupying second place and winning silver (349), and the bronze went to Kazakhstan with 348 bowls.
The Kuwaiti shooters regained the precious metal in the “dirt” for individual and team matches, which they achieved in the 2010 games, after they displaced China, Taipei, and India from the throne of the current version.
The director of the shooting team, Mashfi Al-Mutairi, commented on the team gold, saying: “The shooters had the best preparation and camps before the competitions, and thus they were successful,” adding: “We were hoping for many medals in dirt and skeet, but in general the result is satisfactory and acceptable compared to the general results that we expected.”
On the other hand, Mohammed Al-Rumaihi, who won silver with the Qatari team, said: “The competition was not easy in light of the rainy weather and some wind, but thank God, we work as one team and we were able to take second place, and this came through the efforts of the Qatari Shooting Federation.”
He added: “The Federation provided us with a training staff at the highest levels, whether medical, specialists or physical therapists, and this achievement came as a result of long effort, which may not have been clearly visible. We promise you that the achievements will be golden in the upcoming tournaments.”
The Lebanese team came in fifth place.
In the women's singles final, Kuwaiti Hajar Abdul Malik won the bronze medal by occupying third place behind Indian Nero Nero, who won gold with an Asian record (28 plates), and Chinese Yunong Sun.
Ray Bassil, the Lebanese-origin shooter who decided to represent Qatar in international forums, was not lucky, as she settled for fourth place.
In the team competitions, Kuwaiti female shooters came in third place and won the bronze medal behind China and India, while fourth place went to Qatari female shooters.
Croatian Dragan Talajic, coach of the Bahraini national team, acknowledged the difficult situation his team is going through after the negative results in the Arabian Gulf Cup tournament (Gulf 27), bearing responsibility for the appearance that did not meet the aspirations of the fans, and stressing that facing Yemen will be his last in the current edition, but he hopes it will not be the last in his career with the national team.
Talajic said, during the press conference preceding the confrontation with Yemen: “I come here in a difficult situation given the results we presented, and despite that, we will focus on ourselves and try to provide the best.”
He added: “This will be my last match in this tournament, but it will not be my last with the national team. “The fans are not happy with our performance, and we want to provide a better level.”
The Croatian coach touched on the physical aspect, explaining: “The physical aspect needs analysis. I had positive thoughts about the players being able to play at this level, but we have to improve our football, we are not in the best position right now. “We have the skills, but we need to improve physically.”
Talajic took responsibility for some of the mistakes that occurred at the beginning of the tournament, saying: “In the first match against Qatar, I had six players who made big mistakes, but this is not their fault, because I did not provide them with sufficient information about the opponent they will face, and we have to learn from what happened.”
He continued: “We made some mistakes, and even some of what we talked about was wrong. I did not provide enough information to the players about their opponent. After the first match, we should have focused on ourselves and improved, but that did not happen, and we lost the second match.”
Regarding his future with the Bahraini national team, he said: “I do not know if this tournament will be my last. “I have an agreement with the national team, and I hope it will not be the last.”
Talajic stressed the need to review what happened in the tournament, saying: “We will leave this tournament with negative results, and we must change that in the future.” Our situation is difficult, but that does not mean that we do not have the capabilities. We have to choose the best way to change, and the players must show their best to prove their ability to represent the national team.”
He pointed out that the team lacked the spirit it showed during its coronation in the last edition, adding: “We should have appeared in a more positive spirit, as we did in the last edition.” We must also understand the circumstances and difficulties, including the fact that the players entered the tournament without playing any matches in the league.
The Bahrain coach concluded his speech by saying: “Bahrain deserves a lot, and I am not happy with the current situation. The players must prove that they are capable of representing the Bahraini national team, and we did not represent the national team in the best possible way in this tournament, and I am responsible for that.”
