Doha (AFP) – The final of the Asian Football Cup on Saturday between Jordan and Qatar, the host and defending champion, will be the third between two Arab teams in the history of the competition after the 1996 and 2007 editions.
Published on: 02/09/2024 – 07:35 Last updated: 02/09/2024 – 07:33
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It is true that the tournament began in 1956, but the first Arab participation took place in 1972 with Iraq and Kuwait, which were the first Arab teams to qualify for the knockout rounds in 1976, when Kuwait lost the final to Iran.
The first opportunity to confront an Arab country in the final was wasted by Kuwait in 1984, when it lost in the semi-finals to China and the opportunity to confront Saudi Arabia, which won the title against the Red Dragon.
But in the 1996 UAE edition, the hostess headed toward the decisive match, before her train stopped against Saudi Arabia, which decided the confrontation led by Yousef Al-Thunayan on penalties, after a goalless draw at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
The Arabs waited until 2007 to watch a new fight decided by the Iraqi “thug” Younis Mahmoud, when he headed the winning goal against Saudi Arabia in the 72nd minute in Jakarta.
The scenario was not included in the following editions, despite Qatar’s victory in 2019 in the UAE.
In the current version, it seemed that the scene would be repeated with the elimination of six Arab teams out of eight in the round of 16.
But the only two survivors completed the journey until the final match: Jordan, by defeating Iraq, Tajikistan and South Korea, and Qatar, by eliminating Palestine, Uzbekistan and Iran.
It will also be possible, in this final, for Moroccan Hussein Amouta to become the second Arab coach to win the title, if he succeeds in overcoming Qatar, which is supervised by the Spanish “Tentin” Marques Lopes.
Saudi Khalil Al-Zayani is unique in this achievement when he led his country to the 1984 title.
© 2024 AFP
2024-02-09 06:35:14
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