Since its inception in 1970, the “Gulf Cup” has firmly imposed itself on the football scene, not only in terms of the strength of the teams’ competitions to win their titles, but also in its standing as a witness to the birth of many stars, including Emirati legend Ismail Matar, who is the only one on the “White” list. Who succeeded in lifting the cup twice, in 2007 and 2013.
The UAE national team deserved to win the 18th edition title in Abu Dhabi, thanks to the brilliance of the great star Ismail Matar, who combined the titles of best player and top scorer with five goals, the most expensive of which was against the Omani goalkeeper, Ali Al Habsi, in the final match.
Matar was present at the second Emirati victory for the championship title in the 21st edition in Bahrain, in a tournament that witnessed the coronation of the Emirati Ahmed Khalil, shared with Iraqi Younis Mahmoud, and Kuwaiti Abdul Hadi Khamis, with the top scorer award with three goals for each of them.
The second edition, in 1972, marked the first appearance of the UAE national team in the Gulf Cup tournaments, in an edition that witnessed the first Emirati imprint in terms of goals, which came through Suhail Salem, who gifted the national team victory with an unanswered goal at the expense of his Qatari counterpart.
The Emirati names continued to shine after the 1982 edition, which was held in the Emirates, witnessed the crowning of Saeed Salbukh as the best goalkeeper in the tournament, in an edition during which the Emirati Salem Khalifa imposed himself as a partner in the top scorers with the Saudi Majid Abdullah and the Kuwaiti Yousef Suwaid, with three goals each. Of them.
The legend Fahd Khamis was also crowned top scorer in the eighth edition held in Bahrain in 1986, with six goals, and the name of the Emirati Zuhair Bakhit appeared strongly in the ninth edition in Saudi Arabia in 1988, when he shared the top scorer title with Iraqi Ahmed Radhi, with four goals each.
The Emirati stars continued to leave their mark on historical records, after the tenth edition in Kuwait in 1990 witnessed Nasser Khamis being crowned the best player in the tournament, and the two Emirati Mohammed Ghuloum and Mohsen Musabih came to win the title of best player and goalkeeper in the 12th edition in the Emirates in 1994.
Emirati goalkeepers returned to shine in the history of the Gulf tournaments, after the 2018 edition in Kuwait recorded Khaled Issa being crowned the best goalkeeper award in the tournament.
Al-Jawhara Omar Abdul Rahman
Omar Abdul Rahman (Amouri) played a pivotal role in leading the UAE national team to win the first title for “Al-Abyad” outside the homeland, and giving Emirati football its second historic title, after “Amouri” deserved the best player award in the Bahrain edition, especially after leading the national team to victory in the final match. Over Iraq 2-1 after additional time. “Amouri” contributed to most of the UAE’s goals that scored against opponents on 10 occasions. He also scored two goals, the most expensive of which came when he opened the scoring against Iraq in the final, before Ismail Al Hammadi added the winning goal in the 107th minute.
. He scored his most expensive goal against Oman goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi in the 2007 final.
. Fahd Khamis was crowned top scorer in the eighth edition in 1986, and Zuhair Bakhit appeared strongly in 1988.
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