Croatian Zlatko Dalic, coach of the UAE national team, acknowledged the right of the Saudi national team to win the “Gulf 27” title, pointing out that the individual mistakes committed by its players, especially at the beginning of the match, were the main reason for losing the final.
Dalic said in the press conference after the match: “I congratulate the Saudi team. They deserved to win the title.” We received two early goals, and we had a chance to score from a penalty kick, but individual errors were the main reason for our loss today.”
He added: “After the first 20 minutes, we did not return to the game in the desired manner, and we had to perform better and put more pressure. We made big mistakes, and this tournament represents an opportunity for us to learn and develop.”
The UAE coach confirmed his general satisfaction with what his team presented during its journey in the tournament, with the exception of the final match, and said: “We presented a good tournament, and I am generally satisfied with what we presented apart from today’s match. We faced a very strong Saudi team that did not make mistakes, and deserved to win the final.”
Regarding the impact of the Saudi fans’ presence, Dalic said: “Playing in front of the Saudi fans put a lot of pressure on us, and we committed mistakes at the beginning of the match that should not happen in such confrontations.”
The Croatian coach stressed that losing the final will be a learning station, adding: “We will learn from this tournament, and we will build on the positives and address the negatives, and we will work with the clubs to develop Emirati football and prepare for the upcoming benefits.”
After years of absence and an entire generation waiting to see it on the podium, the Saudi national team was finally crowned the Gulf Cup (Gulf 27) for the fourth time in its history and the first in nearly 23 years, following its valuable and well-deserved 2-0 victory over the UAE national team, on Tuesday, in the final match of the competition.
At Al-Enma Stadium in Jeddah, under the watchful eyes of Swiss Gianni Infantino, President of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the two goals of the match came within two minutes, as Hammam Al-Hamami opened the scoring for the Saudi team in the 11th minute, and his colleague Firas Al-Braikan added the second goal in the 13th minute. The Saudi team returned to the podium in the tournament, whose first edition began in 1970, after having previously won the title in 1994. And 2002, as well as in the 2003 edition. Thus, the Saudi team shared the runner-up list of the teams that won the Gulf Cup with the Iraqi team, which also won the title 4 times, as the two teams are 6 titles behind the Kuwaiti team, the historical champion of the competition with 10 titles.
This has become the first title for the Saudi national team under the leadership of its Greek coach, Giorgios Donis, who took over last April, succeeding Frenchman Hervé Renard. This achievement also came as a very good morale boost for the (Green) team, before its participation in the Asian Nations Cup, which the Kingdom will host early next year, as the team is looking forward to winning the continental competition for the fourth time in its history, and the first since it won its last title in 1996 after winning In the final, against the UAE national team in particular. On the other hand, the UAE national team has only two titles in the Gulf Cup championship, which it held in 2007 and 2013, knowing that this is the fifth time in its history that it has won second place in the competition throughout its history, and the second since the introduction of the two-group system and the knockout rounds in the tournament, specifically in (Gulf 17) in Qatar in 2004, after the competition had been conducted since its inception in a single-round league system. The UAE national team was hoping to He won the Gulf Cup title, to compensate for the disappointment he suffered after failing to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, after failing in the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup.
This is the fifth time that the Saudi team has participated in the Gulf Cup final, while the Emirati team has recorded its fourth appearance in this round. This is the 20th victory for the Saudi team in its record of meetings in various competitions with the Emirates team, which achieved only 6 victories, while 7 of their meetings ended in a draw, thus allowing the green team to continue its superiority over the white team. In terms of the two teams’ matches in the Gulf Cup only, the Saudi team achieved its 12th victory, compared to 3 victories. Only for the Emirates, while the draw imposed itself on 4 matches. In light of the noisy atmosphere of the fans of the two teams that gathered in the stands, the match began with an attack by the Emirates team, and its player Nicolas Jimenez hit a double back kick from inside the penalty area in the third minute, slightly over the crossbar. From the first opportunity the Saudi team had to score, Hammam Al-Hammami opened the scoring for the (Green) team in the 11th minute. Al-Hammami followed up with a corner kick from On the left side, the UAE defense sent it away the wrong way, so the ball reached him and he shot from outside the penalty area, hitting the defense and changing direction, before hitting the net to the left of Khaled Issa, the UAE national team goalkeeper, who threw on the opposite side.
The Saudi national team took advantage of the confusion of the UAE players after Al-Hammami’s goal, so that the host team doubled its lead with a second goal in the 13th minute through Firas Al-Braikan. Al-Buraikan received a wonderful through pass from Nasser Al-Dosari, and shot directly from inside the area with his left foot, placing the ball to the left of Issa and hugging the net. Mohammed Al-Owais, the Saudi national team’s goalkeeper, stood in the way of conceding his own net in the 16th minute, after he brilliantly blocked a shot from inside the area via Bruno de Oliveira. Saleh Abu Al-Shamat missed a sure chance to add another goal for Saudi Arabia in the 17th minute when he received a forward pass, and launched the ball from the middle of the field, before skillfully evading the defense and shooting from inside the area, but the ball hit the right post. The UAE national team intensified its attacks in an attempt to reduce the difference, and Ruben Amaral followed up on a cross pass from the right side, which the Saudi defense cleared in the wrong way, to shoot directly from inside the area, but the ball went wide. About the goal in the 20th minute. Jimenez missed a sure chance for the UAE national team in the 23rd minute, when he received a perfect through pass from Mamadou Koulibaly, and then went alone on goal, but he shot from inside the area at the right post very strangely. The Saudi national team tried to absorb the enthusiasm of the UAE players, as they passed the ball among themselves in the middle of the field, but in the 38th minute, the Moroccan match referee, Jalal Jaid, awarded a penalty kick to the UAE national team, after De Oliveira fell. Inside the area in a joint ball with Hassan Timbukti, the Saudi national team defender.
Jaid quickly decided to cancel the penalty kick after reviewing the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technique, which indicated that there was no obstruction by De Oliveira from Timbukti. Emirati player Bala Guilherme shot from the left of the penalty area in the sixth minute of stoppage time, but the ball passed near the right post, ending the first half with Saudi Arabia leading 2-0. The second half began with an expected attack by the Emirates, which did not result in any danger, while the first shot in this half came from the Saudi team via Hammam Al-Hamami, who shot from the edge of the area in the 51st minute, went over the crossbar. The UAE national team responded with a shot from the left of the area via Bala Guilherme in the 57th minute, but the ball passed near the right post, before Al Owais blocked a shot from inside the area via Sultan Adel in the 59th minute. On the other hand, Saleh Abu Al-Shamat missed a chance for Saudi Arabia in the 60th minute, after he followed a creeping cross pass from the left side, which Khaled cleared. Issa, the ball reached him and he shot from inside the area, without being harassed by anyone, but he put it in the middle of the goal, colliding with the Emirati goalkeeper. Only two minutes had passed, until Nasser Al-Dosari shot from outside the area, but the ball passed along the left post of the UAE national team, while Emirati Liwan Pereira shot in the 66th minute, with Al-Owais waiting for it. Muhammad Kanno missed a sure chance for Saudi Arabia in the 67th minute, when he received a through pass from Al-Braikan, He found himself alone in the goal, but he recklessly shot from inside the area into the body of Khaled Issa. Contrary to expectations, the pace of the match was relatively calm, as the play was confined to the middle of the field, amid mutual possession by both teams, before Abdul-Ilah Al-Omari shot a double back kick from inside the area in the 82nd minute, which passed over the crossbar of the UAE national team’s goal. The UAE national team had great misfortune, after the crossbar blocked a thunderous projectile from outside the area by Fabio Lima, and the ball bounced to the side. The same player followed a creeping cross pass, and shot while he was a few steps from the goal, but the ball went into the arms of Al Owais. The last minutes witnessed nervousness on the part of both teams, as the match was stopped more than once due to arguments between their players, before the referee of the match blew the final whistle, announcing that the Saudi national team had won the match and crowned it with the prestigious title.
