24th Arabian Gulf Cup – a Bahrain fairytale

Muscat: The 24^th Arabian Gulf Cup Qatar 2019 came into real life when Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and UAE decided to join the tournament just two weeks before the kick-off making it a full-strength competition with the eight countries.

Champions Bahrain were not on the top chart of football pundits after the opening round but they unravelled towards the business end of the of the prestigious tournament and getting better of a strong Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the final.

So the Gulf Cup is finally going to the country who first mooted the idea of the very tournament itself.

Bahrain head coach Helio Sousa was super confident as he rolled his 23-member squad for different matches as entirely different line-ups featured in the group stage matches.

Hosts Qatar were stunned by a valiant Iraq in the opening match in front of a capacity home crowd and this result set the tone for the regional showpiece tournament.

Defending champions Oman started well with a goalless draw against eventual winners Bahrain and a fighting victory against Kuwait in Group B.

Oman, however, slipped on their last hurdle when they were comprehensively beaten 3-1 by a professional Saudi Arabian side. Even then they had their chances, but a late brace by Bahrain’s Thiago Augusto ensured the title-holders way out on goal difference.

It was a tale of comeback by powerhouse Saudi who haven’t really accomplished anything in the recent times. The team was strengthened by the joining of the players from the Asian Champions League winners Al Hilal in their second match. It showed immediately as they blanked Bahrain 2-0 and beat Oman in the next match to reach the semifinals.

Group A witnessed the comeback of the hosts as they hammered Yemen 6-0 in their second match to post the biggest win margin in the tournament. In their high-voltage group decider match against UAE, Qatar’s Asian player of the year Akram Afif turned on the style with two goals as the hosts prevailed 4-2. Star player Ali Mabkhout was the lone warrior for UAE with two goals.

On the other hand, Iraq were having a great tournament until the shoot-out miss against Bahrain in the semifinal after a 2-2 thriller in regulation and extra-time.