FOOTBALL – Bahrain crashed out from the 27th Gulf Cup last night in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom’s senior men’s football national team suffered a disheartening 0-3 loss to their counterparts from the UAE for their second straight Group B defeat in the tournament’s preliminary round – unceremoniously ending their bid to repeat as Gulf Cup champions.
Goals from Ousmane Camara in the first half and Guilherme da Silva Goncalves and Ali Saleh after the break gave the Emiratis the full three points.
The Bahrainis had no answer in the contest as they registered only four shots, with none on target.
“I am so sorry how easy we have given the trophy away from us,” Bahrain head coach Dragan Talajic told Al Kass sports channel during a post-match interview.
“We are disappointed because we did not show what we can do. We could not play three very simple passes between us tonight – this is not normal for us, but it happens.
“The second and third goals were like it is the first time we are together. We should be much better, we have some reasons, and the responsibility is mine.”
The result sent the UAE through to the semi-finals along with Qatar, who were 1-0 victors against Yemen in yesterday’s other divisional clash.
Both have a maximum of six points from their two games heading into the final matchday on Wednesday later this week, while the Bahrainis and Yemenis are on zero apiece.
Yusuf Abdurisag scored the game’s lone goal for the Qataris, firing in from close range in the 64th minute off an assist by teammate Edmilson Junior.
They then had a chance to double their advantage but Akram Afif’s penalty in the 73rd minute was stopped by Yemen goalkeeper Mohammed Aman.
Two Group B games wrap up the preliminaries on Wednesday in this eight-nation competition. Bahrain will face Yemen and the UAE will lock horns with Qatar.
Both fixtures are scheduled to kick off at 8.30pm, Bahrain time, that evening.
Tomorrow will be the concluding day in Group A. Oman take on Kuwait and hosts Saudi play Iraq.
Both contests are also set to be played simultaneously from 8.30pm, Bahrain time.
The semis are scheduled for Saturday, setting the stage for the final on Tuesday next week.
Bahrain’s loss last night followed their 0-2 setback against Qatar in their opening fixture.
Talajic made just one change in yesterday’s starting 11 from that contest, with Mahdi Abduljabbar taking the place of veteran Mohammed Al Rumaihi up front.
Amine Benaddi, Waleed Al Hayyam, Hamad Shamsan, and Abdulla Al Khalasi were back in defence; Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Komail Al Aswad, Ali Madan, and Mahdi Humaidan formed Bahrain’s midfield; Ebrahim Lutfhallah returned to man the goal; and Mohammed Jassim Marhoon joined Abduljabbar in attack.
Luthfallah prevented the UAE from going ahead in the 29th minute with a huge diving save on an attempt by Nicolas Gimenez.
But the Emiratis would not be denied just moments later when Camara headed in off a cross from the right delivered by Yuri Cesar Santos de Oliveira Silva.
Luthfallah made another important stop on a Gimenez effort from outside the box in the 42nd minute, maintaining Bahrain’s single-goal deficit heading into the interval.
But the Emiratis continued to threaten after the re-start, and Gimenez hit the crossbar with a header from the face of goal early in the second half.
The UAE then went up 2-0 in the 66th minute, with Goncalves scoring from an acute angle on the left of the area after receiving a long pass from Marcus Vinicius Barbosa Meloni.
Luthfallah later made another impressive save in the 81st minute on a shot by Luan Martins Pereira, but the Emiratis put the game away two minutes from full time after Al Hayyam lost the ball in his own half, releasing Saleh for his game-sealing strike on a one-on-one with the Bahraini custodian.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh