Doha: Qatar’s youth team fell near the final in the Arabian Gulf Cup football. In the first semi-final held at the International Stadium in Basra, Qatar, who showed resistance against the strong Iraq, succumbed to two goals against one. In the tournament being held on its own soil, Iraq made it to the finals. All three goals in the match were scored in the first half. Qatar equalized through Amro Siraj in the 28th minute against Iraq, who took the lead in the 17th minute through Ibrahim Bayesh. However, in the 43rd minute, Ayman Hussain scored a goal for Iraq to win.
After the kickoff whistle of the game, Iraq came together to attack and created more opportunities in the first half. Dominating the ball, the hosts made some breakthroughs with the support of the crowd, but the Qatari defense stopped them early. Siraj dived past an Iraqi defender on the counter-attack but the move was drowned out by the offside whistle. On the other hand, after quarter of an hour of the game, Iraq created excitement for the gallery by shaking Qatar’s net. Amjad Attawan’s goal-scoring attempt was blocked by Muhammad Ali’s measured cross by Qatar goalkeeper Mishal Barsham. But Mishal could not get hold of the ball. Bayesh immediately hit the ball as it slowly came to him.
After conceding the goal, Qatar strengthened its counterattack. Khalid Muneer’s shot went past the Iraq defender and Ali Ghazim put a wall between the goal and the goal. Then the next move from the free kick. Backheel flick by Ahmad Alauddin as the kick flies into the Iraqi box. Iraq goalkeeper Jalal Hasan poked the ball forward and the ball reached Siraj. Jalal was not at the post when Siraj’s first-time volley raced into the net.
The Iraqis, who relied on long balls from the back row, began to attack again for the lead. Their crosses from both wings created a lot of work for the Qatari defence. Finally, just before the break, the hosts celebrated again and regained the lead. Taking advantage of a lapse in Qatar’s defense, Attawan immediately passed the ball to Ayman Hussain. Hussain lofted the ball over the head of the advancing goalie Mishal into the net.
After the break, Qatar switched to an attacking game in search of an equaliser. Siraj had another golden opportunity but the shot was wide. Iraq took a cautious approach in the second half with a defensive style. Their breakthrough moves were limited to long balls to Hussain. Things went Iraq’s way as the tactics aimed to counter Qatar’s advances before they reached the penalty box. Tamim Mansoor, who scored the equalizer in the 88th minute to lead the team to the semi-finals, was brought on by Qatar in the 62nd minute as a substitute, but the host defense was in no mood to give up. Hussain had a chance to increase the lead on the counter-attack before the end of the game, but the shot flew wide of the target.
After the disappointing performance in the World Cup, Qatar fielded a team with a preference for young players and rested the leading players in the Gulf Cup. The winners of the second semi-final, Bahrain-Oman, will face Iraq in the final on the 18th of this month.
