It was better late than never for hosts Oman on Saturday night as they lifted the Gulf Cup for the first time. Nothing could separate the teams after 120 minutes of play in the 19th Gulf Cup final at the Sultan Qaboos Stadium. It was a penalty miss from Saudi Arabia's Taisser al Jassim that gave the Omanis hope.
Up stepped Mohammed Rabea to smash in the 11th penalty of the night to send the home fans into raptures. Claude Le Roy's Oman were the better team by a long way during the 90 minutes, yet they failed to break the deadlock. They were also unlucky as they had two shots at the Saudi goal crashing against the woodwork. Ismail al Ajmi's effort from inside the box crashed against the upright from the outstretched hands of Waleed Abdulla Ali in injury time of the first half and Emad al Hosni's header from just in front of the goalmouth ricocheted off the crossbar five minutes from time off Al Ajmi's dipping cross.
Oman enjoyed the major share of the possession and territory in the first half. And they started the second in the same fashion, coming close to breaking the deadlock four times within the first 20 minutes. Hassan Rabea, the top scorer in the competition with four goals, was the man who posed all the problems for the hosts. He was a bit late for a left cross that was punched out by Abdulla Ali, who also denied Rabea by pushing the ball out of play from a shot from the edge of the area. Rabea later saw a sliding header from a free kick go agonisingly wide of the far post.
Khalifa Ail's header from the goalmouth off a corner sailed over the crossbar as the Saudis survived. Al Hosni's header from close range could have sealed the game for the hosts but such was the luck for the Saudis on the night. Nasser al Johar's men could do little in attack as the Omanis, backed by the vociferous home fans, kept the pressure up as they had done in all their games after a nervy 0-0 opener with Kuwait.
The Saudi coach even replaced one of his experienced forwards Malik Moad with the youngster Nayef Hazazi, but nothing seemed to work for them as the Oman never allowed them to regroup by applying more pressure. apassela@thenational.ae
