FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN emphatically punched their tickets last night to the semi-finals of the 26th Gulf Cup in Kuwait.
The kingdom’s senior men’s football national team secured their seats after outclassing defending champions Iraq 2-0 at Jaber Al Ahmad International Stadium in the Kuwaiti capital.
Ali Madan had a brace to help lift the Bahrainis to their second win in as many games as they rose to solo first place on the Group B table with six points. The Riffa Club star fired home on either side of half-time, sending Bahrain through to the competition’s knockout stage with one match still to play in their preliminary round schedule.
That will be on Saturday against Yemen, who fell to a 2-3 loss against Saudi Arabia in yesterday’s other divisional clash.
Iraq and Saudi, who are on three points apiece, square off in the other contest on the concluding matchday to determine the other team who will advance to the last four from Group B.
There, they will each take on one of the top two teams from Group A, which is currently led by Oman and hosts Kuwait with four points apiece, and completed by the UAE and Qatar, who both are on a point.
Saturday’s games are slated for simultaneous 5.30pm kick-offs, with Bahrain playing Yemen at Sulaibikhat Stadium and Iraq facing Saudi at Al Ahmad International. The matches will determine the final ranking in the pool.
The semi-finals are set for Tuesday next week and then the final will be held on January 3.
The tournament champions will come away with a cool $1 million in prize money, while the runners-up will pocket $750,000.
In Bahrain’s big victory last night, Mahdi Abduljabbar came close to putting the victors ahead in the ninth minute with a volley that was marginally off target following a Mahdi Humaidan pass. Mohammed Jassim Marhoon then had a shot fly over the crossbar at the half-hour mark.
Madan then scored his first goal for Bahrain in the 38th minute from close range. Sayed Dhiya Saeed passed to a charging Marhoon on the left of the penalty area and he delivered a low cross that went across the face of goal to an unmarked Madan on the right. Madan simply needed to tap home as Iraq’s defenders and goalkeeper Jalal Hasan Hachim failed to recover in time.
That was enough to send Bahrain into the locker rooms with the slim advantage. It then didn’t take long after the re-start for them to double their advantage, as Madan was once again on target just two minutes in.
He received a brilliant pass from Komail Al Aswad but his first shot from inside the box was stopped – although could not be controlled – by Hachim. Madan was first to the loose ball, and he sent the rebound into the net.
Bahrain goalkeeper Ebrahim Luthfallah was once again in top form in the contest. He made an important stop in the 60th minute to prevent a potential scoring opportunity for the Iraqis. Zaid Tahseen Hantoosh then came close in the 64th minute with a header that was inches off the mark.
In the game’s closing stages, a low effort from Marhoon was calmly collected by Hachim, and then a goal in the 84th minute by substitute Mohammed Al Rumaihi was disallowed for an offside infraction.
With last night’s result, Bahrain are set to make an appearance in the Gulf Cup semi-finals for the fourth straight edition of the prestigious regional tournament.
The nationals have won the title just once in the past – in 2019 in Doha, Qatar, when they defeated Saudi 1-0 in the final.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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