Oman succumb to narrow UAE defeat in 2017 Gulf Cup opener

Kuwait City: Oman fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat against the neighbouring United Arab Emirates in their opening game of the 2017 Arabian Gulf Cup of Nations.

An Ali Mabhkhout penalty was the difference between the two sides, and despite committing more resources forward as the game wore on, the result sees Oman drop to the bottom of Group A after Saudi Arabia beat hosts Kuwait 2-1 in the tournament’s opening game.

Little pressure was expected to fall on Oman’s shoulder, which means they could turn the spotlights focused on their opponents to their advantage, but the Sultanate now does have an uphill task ahead of them, with their next game against Kuwait on the 25^th of December potentially proving to be a make or break encounter.

Both sides began tentatively, choosing to get to grips with the tournament conditions before committing men forward to attack.

With veteran Oman goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi not selected for the tournament, Oman coach Pim Verbeek entrusted the safety of the goal to Faiyz Al Rashdi. He was relatively untroubled as the first half ticked by, until nerves seemed to unfortunately get the better of veteran Oman defender Ahmed Mubarak.

With a blatant foul committed in the box, there were few people who could’ve argued with the resulting decision to award the UAE a penalty. Mubarak went into the book, and Ali Mabhkhout, who was only released by parent club Al Jazira after shining in the recently-concluded FIFA Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, failed to show any signs of rustiness as he showed no hesitation in firing the ball past Al Rashdi.

That was the way the score stayed until half-time, and as the game went past the 60-minute mark, UAE coach Alberto Zaccheroni decided to hold on to what his team had accomplished, withdrawing star player Mohammed Abdulrahman for Rayan Yaslam.

With Oman visibly tiring on the pithc and time running out, Verbeek decided to throw on Abdulaziz Al Mukbali for Mohsin Al Khaldi, but the equaliser continued to prove elusive. In his eagerness to get forward, Oman’s Saad Suhail was shown a yellow card, shortly after Zaccheroni decided to fling on another defender to batten down the hatches, swapping Mohammed Fawzi for Mohammed Ahmad with 10 minutes to go.

Said Salim came on for the last eight or so minutes, as Oman tried to pierce the UAE rearguard, with goalscorer Mabhkhout being taken off for Ahmed Mallah to eat up a few seconds as the clock wound down and the final whistle blew soon afterwards.

Oman’s next game is against hosts Kuwait on the 25^th of December at 9pm Oman time,, while the UAE face Saudi Arabia just two and a half hours before that to set the stage for a very interesting last round of matches.

In addition, Group B kicks off underway this evening, with Qatar facing Yemen at 630, followed by Iraq’s game against Bahrain at 9pm.

Oman 0-1 UAE

Goals: Ali Mabhkhout 28’pen

Lineups:

Oman: Faiyz Al Rashdi, Ali Al Busaidi, Mohammed Al Musalami, Fahmi Durbein, Saad Suhail, Ahmed Mubarak, Harib Al Saadi, Raeed Saleh, Mohsin Al Khaldi (Abdulaziz Al Mukbali 78’), Jameel Al Yahmadi, Khalid Al Hajri (Said Salim 82’)

Subs Not used: Sulaiman Al Breiki, Saud Al Farsi, Ali Al Jabri, Mahmoud Al Mushaifri, Mohammed Al Rawahi, Ahmed Al Rawahi, Mohammed Al Seyabi, Yaseen Al Sheyadi, Nadir Mabrook

UAE: Khalid Essa, Mohanad Salem, Ismail Ahmed, Khaleefa Ghanim, Mohammed Al Menhali, Khamis Esmail, Ali Salmeen, Mohammed Fawzi (Mohamed Ahmad 80’), Ali Mabhkhout (Ahmed Mallah 90’), Mohammed Abdulrahman (Rayan Yaslam 62'), Omar Abdulrahman

Subs Not used: Rayan Mohamad, Ismaeel Al Hamadi, Ahmed Al Attas, Sultan Al Mantheri, Mohammed Marzooq, Fares Juma, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Ahmed Barman, Khaled Galal, Salem Awad