Mahdi Ali banks on Omar and Khalil to come good against Iraq in Gulf Cup

Saudi Arabia and Qatar are through to the last four of the Gulf Cup, clinching the two berths from Group A in contrasting styles last night.

Mahdi Ali, during a Gulf Cup training session. Courtesy UAE FA

The UAE coach Mahdi Ali said he believes his players are ready for their decisive match against Iraq on Thursday night and insisted he will be looking to finish top of the group to avoid the possibility of facing hosts Saudi Arabia in the semi-finals.

He also hoped that the luck that has deserted them in the last two matches will return and confirmed that, with the exception of a knock to midfielder Amer Abdulrahman, there are no injury worries.

“The standard of all four teams are very similar,“ he said at the UAE’s news conference in Riyadh on Wednesday.

“We hope to progress to the semi-final but all the teams have a chance to qualify and it’s impossible to predict who will.”

Mahdi Ali dismissed the idea that his team will be facing a team intent on revenge after the UAE’s defeat of Iraq in last year’s final.

“All I’m focusing on is the team giving all they’ve got and gaining a positive result,” he said. “The Iraqi team is not that different from the one we played at the last Gulf Cup.”

On misfiring striker Ahmed Khalil, the coach said he was confident the team’s top scorer in the last Gulf Cup in Bahrain would come good and recalled that he faced similar criticism last year before he hit top form when the team needed him most.

Mahdi Ali also revealed his delight at the form of playmaker Omar Abdulrahman against Kuwait. “Omar played an excellent match and everyone could see his improvement from one match to the next, especially that he has just returned from injury,” Mahdi Ali said.

“But Omar is the type of player who always performs to his best every time he plays.”

Saudi Arabia and Qatar go through

Saudi Arabia and Qatar are through to the last four of the Gulf Cup, clinching the two berths from Group A in contrasting styles on Wednesday night.

Saudi Arabia defeated Yemen 1-0 to top the group with seven points, while Qatar featured in another sleep-inducing affair, sharing points with Bahrain in a goalless draw. They reach the semi-finals after having scored only once in three matches.

Nawaf Al Abid opened the scores for the Saudis in the 28th minute with a blistering volley from outside the box, becoming the first person to breach the surprisingly doughty Yemeni defence in this tournament.

Qatar, on the other hand, played second fiddle to Bahrain for most of the night, but a point was all they needed to qualify for the knockout stages.

Their opponents needed a win and tried their best, but without much luck. Drubbed 3-0 by the hosts Saudi Arabia in their previous encounter – a defeat that led to the sacking of their coach Adnan Hamad – Bahrain looked a lot more resolute last night and created plenty of worries for the Qatari defence from the start.

Their best opportunity of the first session came in the 40th minute when Abdulwahab Al Malood got into a good position to receive Sami Al Hussaini’s cross, but he failed to get any power into his shot.

Two minutes into the second session, Ismail Abdullatif had another chance to put Bahrain ahead, but he blasted over from close range.

Five minutes from the final whistle, Bahrain substitute Mohammed Al Alawi beat the Qatari goalkeeper Qasem Burhan with a header, but Boualem Khoukhi managed to pull off a goal-line save.

The two teams now wait for the two qualifiers from Group B, with Qatar squaring-off against the group winners in the first semis on Sunday night, before Saudi Arabia take the pitch against the group runners-up.

UAE v Iraq in numbers

5 – The number of unanswered goals Iraq scored in their record win over the UAE at the 1979 Gulf Cup held in Baghdad.

1984 – The year that the UAE finally took a point off Iraq. In Muscat, Oman, the Emiratis finished 0-0 against the team that would go on to win their second Gulf Cup title.

2 – The number of matches between the two teams that have been annulled for Iraq pulling out of the competition before its conclusion: Iraq's 2-0 win in 1982 and the 2-2 draw in 1990.

107 – The minute in which Ismail Al Hammadi scored his extra-time winner as the UAE beat Iraq 2-1 to win the 2013 Gulf Cup in Bahrain.

5 – The number of times the UAE and Iraq have played out a Gulf Cup draw, the most common result between the two. Iraq have won twice, while the UAE's only win came in the 2013 final.

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