The first national football team bid farewell to the Arabian Gulf Cup (Gulf 26), currently being held in Kuwait, in the first round after being satisfied with a 1-1 draw against Oman in the match that took place yesterday.
“The White” had taken the initiative to score through Yahya Al-Ghassani (20), and the “Red” equalizer was achieved by Abdul Rahman Al-Mushaifri (79).
Fabio Lima wasted the opportunity to win for the national team by missing a penalty kick that Al-Abyad won in stoppage time, which was saved by the Omani goalkeeper.
“Al-Abyad” entered the match on the back of not achieving any victory in the Qatar and Kuwait matches, and therefore was hoping to win and qualify for the semi-finals, and not repeat what happened in the last two editions, “Gulf 24” and “Gulf 25”, when the two tournaments were eliminated from the group stage.
The national team set off towards Oman’s goal early, specifically in the third minute, and the goalkeeper succeeded in deflecting Yahya Al-Ghassani’s shot into a corner kick.
The Oman national team responded with a counterattack that ended with Al-Mundhir Al-Alawi, who shot a ball from the outskirts of the box, which was controlled by goalkeeper Khaled Issa.
The offensive pressure from the national team continued, and the Omani goalkeeper returned to block Bruno Oliveira’s shot and sent it to a corner that was not exploited after that.
Fabio Lima wasted the opportunity to score when Yahya Al-Ghassani’s cross passed over his head while the goal was wide open.
However, in the fourth attempt, Yahya Al-Ghassani was able to translate the UAE team’s advantage thanks to a cross delivered by Khaled Al-Dhanhani, which passed in front of the defenders, and Al-Ghassani completed it into the goal.
The “White” players asked the Bahraini referee, Ammar Mahfouz, for a penalty kick, after the right-back, Amjad Al-Harthy, removed the ball from Yahya Al-Ghassani with his hand, but the referee indicated that play should resume without returning to the VAR technique.
“White” seemed a bit conservative at the beginning of the second half, relying more on offensive transitions through attacks, and from one of them Meloni shot a ball over the crossbar.
On another occasion, Meloni fell into the box after interfering with Amjad Al Harithi, but without any decision from the Bahraini referee.
The closest attempt by “Al-Abyad” to threaten Oman’s goal was a shot fired by Yahya Al-Ghassani, but it lost its way into the net and landed outside the field.
The UAE national team paid a heavy price in its exaggerated decline during the last quarter of the second half, conceding a goal after Yahya Nader failed to clear Al-Mundhir Al-Alawi’s cross, from which Abdul Rahman Al-Mushaifri shot a low ball that landed to the left of goalkeeper Khaled Issa.
The national team players became frustrated after this goal, and they did not react after Oman equalized, except for a shot by Harib Abdullah that the goalkeeper deflected into a corner.
The team won a well-deserved penalty kick after the Omani goalkeeper obstructed Tahnoon Al Zaabi, but Fabio Lima missed it, so the match ended in a 1-1 draw and the team bid farewell to “Gulf 26.”
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