Gulf 26: Fiery semi-final between Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain

Saudi Arabia will look to continue making up for its slow start when it meets Oman on Tuesday in the semi-finals of the Gulf Cup (Gulf 26) in football, while host Kuwait will clash with the solidity of the Bahraini team.

Saudi Arabia, who are playing with a starting lineup, suffered an opening defeat to Bahrain 3-2, before turning a two-goal deficit against a wounded Yemen into a last-gasp 3-2 win.

But the men of returning French coach Herve Renard put in a good performance against defending champions Iraq in the group stage finale, winning 3-1 in front of around 55,000 spectators, thanks to a penalty from their star Salem Al-Dawsari and a late brace from striker Abdullah Al-Hamdan.

After expressing his dissatisfaction despite the victory, Renard, who replaced Italian Roberto Mancini due to poor results in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, wrote: “What a night for our team and for Saudi football. We are proud to secure our place in the Gulf Cup semi-finals. This achievement is the result of the hard work, determination and amazing spirit of our players on and off the pitch.”

Saudi Arabia is looking for a fourth title after 1994, 2002 and 2003.

Nasser Al-Dosari is absent from the ranks of the "Green" due to the accumulation of cards, and Abdul-Ilah Al-Malki due to injury, to join the injured during the current tournament, Firas Al-Brikan, Yasser Al-Shahrani, Abdul-Ilah Al-Amri, Saleh Al-Shehri and Abdullah Al-Khaibari.

Abdul-Ilah Hawsawi and Aoun Al-Salouli will be the closest names nominated to replace Al-Dosari and Al-Maliki.

Oman and specialization

On the other hand, Oman aspires to confirm its specialization by qualifying for the final match for the second time in a row and the sixth time in its history.

Since the adoption of the elimination system in the tournament in 2004, Oman, the two-time champion in 2009 at the expense of Saudi Arabia and 2017 at the expense of the UAE, has qualified for the final 5 times (a record), the last of which was in the last edition in 2023 when it lost to Iraq after extra time 2-3.

Oman topped Group 1 despite being outside the nominations, after suffering in the World Cup qualifiers, where it ranked fourth in its group in the third round, with two wins and four defeats.

Oman came close to exiting the tournament in the final round against the UAE on two occasions. The first was when they trailed 0-1 until the 79th minute before their player Abdulrahman Al-Mushafri equalised, making the score 1-1 enough to qualify. The second was when a penalty kick was awarded against them in the fifth minute of stoppage time, which their goalkeeper Ibrahim Al-Mukhaini successfully saved.

🇸🇦 Saudi Green 🆚 Oman Red 🇴🇲

Who will secure a ticket to the Gulf Cup final for the seventh time in its history? 🏆🤔 #Gulf_Zain26 pic.twitter.com/tuDnvuQgfE

— Khaleeji Zain 26 (@KhaleejiZain) December 30, 2024

A summit is awaited

The Gulf fans are looking forward to the summit match between host Kuwait and Bahrain at Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, which has a capacity of 60,000 spectators, after the latter topped its group with two wins over Saudi Arabia (3-2) and Iraq (2-0) and a loss with a reserve lineup against Yemen (1-2), while Kuwait collected 5 points from 3 matches and came in second behind Oman due to the difference in yellow cards (fair play 7-9).

Kuwait holds the record for the number of times it has been crowned (10), the last of which was in 2010 in Yemen, while Bahrain won the title once in the previous edition in Qatar in 2019.

Kuwait are in the semi-finals for the first time since 2013, but they will have to make up for the absence of influential midfielder Ahmed Al-Dhafiri due to an accumulation of cards.

Reda Hani's chances of playing alongside Sultan Al-Enezi seem great, with the coach relying on Hamad Harbi, originally a midfielder, in the centre-back position in the Qatar match.

A summit meeting in #Gulf_Zain26 between Kuwait and Bahrain in search of a ticket to the final 🇧🇭🇰🇼🏆 pic.twitter.com/VJstnl40ij

— Khaleeji Zain 26 (@KhaleejiZain) December 30, 2024

The Blues are counting on the key players, most notably Mohammed Daham, Youssef Nasser, Sultan Al-Enezi and Khaled Ibrahim.

Kuwait's coach, the Argentine-Spanish Juan Antonio Pizzi, has sufficient information about Bahrain, which he previously led during the last Asian Cup in Qatar.

Pizzi will face his players, whom he led in 10 matches between September 2023 and January 2024, during which he achieved 5 wins, 4 losses and a draw.

On the other hand, Bahrain's coach, Croatian Dragan Talajic, relies on players such as Walid Al-Hayam, Amin Benadi, Kamil Al-Aswad, Ali Madan, Mohammed Marhoon and Mahdi Abdul-Jabbar, while Sayed Mahdi Baqer is absent after his defeat against Yemen.

The Kuwaiti Federation announced on Sunday that the date for selling tickets for the semi-finals has been postponed to 12 noon local time on Monday, “due to the great demand... as the number of requests through the electronic platform exceeded 130,000 requests... and due to the delay in deciding the dates for the semi-final matches and postponing the final to Saturday, January 4.”

The Arab Gulf Football Federation announced yesterday, Sunday, that the final date would be postponed to next Saturday instead of Friday.

Source: Agencies