Oman’s inefficiency in front of goal continued as the 2009 champion made a painful exit from the 21st Gulf Cup after losing 0-2 to the UAE in the final round Group A game at the Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Manama, Bahrain, on Friday night.
Substitute Ahmed Khalil slammed a brace to lead the UAE to victory and secure the top spot in the group for the 2007 champion.
Hosts Bahrain secured the second spot in the group to advance to the semifinals after beating Qatar 1-0 in the other match played simultaneously at the National Stadium.
Bahrain’s win helped the team, coached by Gabriel Calderon, collect four points from three games, while Qatar finished third with three points.
Oman ended its campaign with a point from the draw against the hosts in the tournament opener.
With Oman dominating the match like in the previous games against Bahrain and Qatar, the UAE played a tactical game, soaking in the pressure, before launching a series of counter-attacks in the last ten minutes to keep its slate clean and record its third successive win in the tournament.
Khalil, who was brought on in the 60th minute for Ismail Salem by coach Mahdi Ali, scored the first of his two goals in the 84th minute. Having been put through by Waleed Akhbar, Khalil sent in a quick pass to Amer Abdulrehman, who relayed the ball back for the attacking midfielder to slam it in past the advancing Omani goalkeeper Mazin al Kasbi.
With Oman continuing its search for a goal, the UAE once again exploited the space available to get its second goal three minutes later. A long cross beat defender Abdulsalam Amour and with Kasbi coming out of the box to intercept, Khalil did well to rush in and drive the ball in. Mohammed al Mussallami’s late attempt at a goal-line save proved futile.
As if the two goals were not enough, Hassan Mudhaffar was shown a red card for a foul on the UAE’s Khaled Issa with a minute left for the final whistle to complete a miserable trip for Oman.
For coach Paul Le Guen’s team, the script over the last two matches was disturbingly familiar – the experienced star players fizzled out, the youngsters remained a bundle of nerves.
As for the UAE, with a semifinal spot confirmed before this game, coach Ali fielded a virtually new squad with eight changes to the team that defeated hosts Bahrain 2-1 in the previous game.
Le Guen made only one change from the previous game against Qatar in this must-win match with Ismail al Ajmi coming in for Eid al Farsi. And the team displayed its skill on the field by having the majority of ball possession and creating a series of chances in both sessions. But the strikers messed up the golden opportunities that went their way.
While Abdulaziz al Miqbali was the culprit on more than a couple of occasions, substitute Imad al Hosni came a cropper in the 78th minute with just UAE keeper Khaled Issa to beat after a long cross from Fauzi Basheer.
In the first half, the best chance for Oman came as early as in the tenth minute when Saad Suhail sent in a measured lob off a free-kick from the right flank. A goalmouth melee resulted in the ball going to an unmarked Miqbali, whose attempt was misdirected.
The UAE came back into the match and, though it failed to create any worthwhile attacks, launched a few long-rangers with Amer Abdulrehman unleashing one in the 19th minute. Ali Salem’s pile-driver five minutes later almost got the UAE a goal but for a good save by Oman keeper Kasbi, who did well to tip the ball over the post.
Kasbi was again on duty in the second half, making a good save off a free-kick from Amer Abdulrehman in the 69th minute. However, the young goalie failed to save the next two raids from Oman’s arch rival.
The UAE will now meet the second-placed team from Group B for a place in the final. The final standings in Group B will be decided on Saturday with Iraq, which is already in the semifinals, taking on Yemen. An Iraqi win will take it to the top of the group while the match between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will decide the other semifinalist from the group.
In the other group match on Friday, Bahrain’s Fauzi Aish converted a penalty in the 24th minute to give the hosts a much-needed win after Qatar’s Bilal Mohammed was found to have handled the ball inside the box.