DEFENDING champions Saudi Arabia edged past Kuwait 3-2 last night to advance to the final of the fifth Huawei GCC National Teams Under-23 Championship.
The Saudis went ahead by three goals in the contest, but the Kuwaitis refused to go out without a fight and came to within one strike from leveling the scores.
Saleh Jamaan scored a first-half brace for the victors while Abdulrahman Al Ghamdi contributed Saudi’s third.
Kuwait’s goals were scored by Faraj Alzuaebi and Abdulrahman Alshammari, both before the 70th minute to make for a nail-biting final 20 minutes of action.
The Saudis now go on to face hosts Bahrain in a repeat of the final of last year’s edition of the tournament, held in Doha. The Saudis won the title with a 2-0 score line and will be hoping to make a repeat of their success when the match takes place Monday at the National Stadium in Riffa.
Losing semi-finalists Kuwait and Oman will battle it out for the bronze medals tomorrow.
Saudi headed into yesterday’s tie the favourites, and they lived up to their billing but were made to sweat before the final whistle.
Jamaan got them off on the right foot with an opening goal in the 16th minute. The star striker than doubled their advantage in the 37th with an opportunistic goal. Jamaan hit home after Kuwaiti goalkeeper Abdulaziz Marzouq failed to hold on to a free-kick. Jamaan pounced on the loose ball right in front of goal and slotted home to make it 2-0.
Jamaan’s brace was to put his team ahead at the interval.
After the re-start, it took only seven minutes for the Saudis to add to the advantage and Al Ghamdi scored to make it 3-0.
Al Ghamdi’s goal virtually assured the Saudis of the victory, but not without some drama before the end.
Kuwait fought back valiantly and scored back-to-back goals within the span of just five minutes to make things interesting.
Alzuaebi netted home in the 64th minute and then Alshammari gave his team life not long later.
The Kuwaitis tried hard to find an equaliser over the game’s closing stages, but were unlucky not to find the finishing touch.
Following the match, Saudi’s Jamaan was named the Most Valuable Player of the tie by title sponsors Huawei.
Meanwhile, Saudi coach Khaled Alkotri expressed his delight with qualifying for the title contest. He gave credit to the Kuwait side for their fighting spirit in the game, but praised his team for their efforts and said they deserve to be playing in the final.
On his part, Kuwait coach Abdulaziz Hamada said that their defensive errors cost them in the game. He was happy with the way they battled back and came one goal away from equalising, and congratulated Saudi for moving on to the final.