Muscat, Jan 1
Bahrain shattered the dreams of hosts Kuwait with a lone goal and reached the final of 26th Arabian Gulf Cup in Kuwait City late on Tuesday.
Mohammed Marhoon netted the winner in the 75th minute of the tense semifinal at the Jaber Al Ahmed International Stadium.
Hamad al Shamsan won a free kick for Bahrain on the right wing. Komail al Aswad’s curling kick was headed down by Amine Benaddi in front of the goal and Marhoon wasted no time in tapping into the top right corner of the Kuwait goal.
Kuwait pushed hard for an equaliser in the closing stages, but Bahrain held on to secure victory.
Bahrain will take on Oman, who beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 in the first semifinal, in the title-clash on January 4.
Like in the Oman match, Bahrain were also down to 10 players when midfielder Mahdi al Humaidan was sent off for a second yellow card after a bad foul on Kuwait’s Hamad al Harbi.
Bahrain head coach Dragan Talajic praised his team’s discipline and ability to adapt after the red card.
“I’m very happy for the players and the team. We played a great match, especially in the second half. We were very disciplined and we managed to score the winning goal,” the Croatian coach said after the match.
“We had to play very smart because we were down to 10 men for most of the match. We were able to defend well and counterattack effectively.”
Commenting on the final against Oman, Talajic expects it to be tough.
“We are now looking forward to the final against Oman. It will be a tough match, but we are confident that we can win.
Kuwait coach Juan Pizzi expressed disappointment with the result but praised his players for their efforts.
“I’m disappointed with the result. We had a good first half and created some good chances, but we didn’t take advantage of them.”
“The red card changed the game. We had to play defensively for most part of the second half,” the Spaniard added.
The intense clash saw both teams getting good chances early on, but neither could capitalise.
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