The national football team disappointed its fans during its participation in the 26th Arabian Gulf Cup currently being held in Kuwait after it exited the tournament in the group stage, following a 1-1 draw with its Omani counterpart, who won the qualification card to accompany Kuwait to the semi-finals in the tournament.
The team had tied in two matches with Qatar and Oman with the same score, 1-1, and lost to Kuwait, 1-2, at a time when the Emirati fans were hoping for a third Gulf title.
The 26th edition of the tournament recorded five sad and poignant scenes for the national team that the Emirati fans will never forget, as follows:
Early exit
The most prominent scene in this event was the state of sadness that fell over the audience as they left the stands of the tournament, after they had attended the stands in large numbers, and it seemed in disbelief that “Al-Abyad” left the tournament in the first round without achieving victory during the three matches that it played in the first round, despite Although he was one of the most prominent candidates to win the title.
Fatal mistakes
As for the second scene, it was embodied in some players committing catastrophic defensive errors for which the team paid dearly, especially those committed by defender Khalifa Al Hammadi, which were repeated in more than one match, as he caused a penalty kick that enabled the Qatari team to score during the match that ended in a 1-1 draw. The opening of the tournament, and the same player committed two mistakes during the Kuwait match, when the player Muhammad Dahham cut the ball from him, so he was alone with goalkeeper Khaled Issa and scored the first goal (16), and in a second mistake. In the same match, Al-Hammadi returned the ball to goalkeeper Khaled Issa, but Moaz Al-Enezi reached the ball first, dribbled past the goalkeeper, and put it into the net (89), scoring the second goal for Kuwait.
Wasted penalty kick
The third scene was embodied in the transformation of the state of joy that spread across the Emirati audience in the stands, as they were preparing to celebrate the qualification to the semi-finals after the Bahraini referee, Ammar Mahfouz, awarded a penalty kick to “Al-Abyad” at the fatal time in the Oman match (90 + 6), but Player Fabio De Lima missed it, as the Oman national team goalkeeper blocked it and prevented “Al-Abyad” from emerging victorious, and thus not qualifying for the semi-finals.
Yahya Nader’s mistake
The fourth scene was the individual mistake made by the player, Yahya Nader, during the “White” match with the Omani “Red”, and through it, he caused the Omani team to score a 1-1 equaliser, after he failed to clear a cross for the player, Abdul Rahman Al-Mushaifri, to score from it. The equalizing goal for Oman (79), knowing that “Al-Abyad” was ahead with a goal by Yahya Al-Ghassani (20).
Lima tears
The fifth scene was when the national team player, Fabio Lima, shed tears in grief over missing a decisive penalty kick that could have led the national team to the semi-finals of the tournament. The player apologized after the match, noting that the national team had played a good tournament and created many opportunities, but did not… He was lucky, and Lima said: “I apologize to the fans for the missed penalty kick. We do not deserve to qualify after these many individual mistakes.”
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