Qatar shock hosts Saudi to win Gulf Cup

Sport360 staff 22:56 26/11/2014
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  • Qatar moved level with Saudi Arabia and Iraq on three Gulf Cup of Nations' triumphs.

    Qatar shocked the entire Middle East as they beat hosts Saudi Arabia 2-1 to lift the Gulf Cup of Nations in Riyadh on Wednesday night.

    – Ali Mabkhout strike secures third place finish for UAE at Gulf Cup

    The Green Falcons slumped rather than soared under the significant weight of an expectant nation that had demanded nothing less than a fourth Gulf Cup.

    Boualem Khoukhi was the Maroons’ hero, with his crisp second half volley somehow finding the net through the grotesquely inadequate grasp of Saudi goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah, who will not care to see the replay.

    In a tense but absorbing final in Riyadh’s King Fahd Stadium, the unfancied Qataris left the host nation dejected, with the partisan crowd stunned into silence at the final whistle as the victors celebrated wildly.

    Saudi coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro had spoken about the burden both he and his team felt going into the final, saying that his side were “obliged to achieve victory”, and they certainly played like a team under pressure.

    Qatar started brightly, clearly in no mood to be overawed by either the occasion or the vociferous home crowd who perhaps believed victory for their side was inevitable.

    That feeling only heightened when, despite a decent opening from Qatar, in which Karim Boudiaf had the game’s first real chance, it was the favourites who took the lead, captain Saud Khariri leading the way with a precision header from Nawaf Al Abid's corner.

    The finish was emphatic but Qatar’s marking pathetic, with the midfielder presented with the freedom of the penalty area to plant his header beyond the reach of Qasem Burhan.

    Qatar restored parity immediately though and from an identical source, defender Almahdi Mukhtar glancing in a Hassan Alsayd corner that left Abdullah rooted.

    The home side should have regained the lead before the break following the game’s best move, but Salem Al Dawsari dragged wide an effort that lacked conviction.

    Just before the hour mark, an already muted Saudi crowd was reduced to stunned silence when Qatar took the lead.

    Khoukhi did well to keep his eye on a ball dropping out of the sky following a Saudi clearance from a free-kick, but Abdullah had no excuse as the ball evaded his clutches on its way into the net.

    Saudi had chances to equalise but Al Dawsari’s curled effort was caught greatfully by Burham, although he could only watch in panic as the busy Al Dawsari’s cross was turned onto the post after deflecting off Mukhtar.

    In truth, Qatar’s margin of victory could have been greater, but skipper Ibrahim Majid and substitute Ismaeel Mohammad spurned glorious late opportunities.

    The Falcons’ fortunes were summed up by talisman Nasser Al Shamrani’s withdrawal with 20 minutes to go, the frontman anonymous in the tournament’s showpiece finale.

    Referee Mohanad Sarray waved away a late Saudi penalty appeal when Salman Al Faraj threw himself to ground inside the area but his next job was to bring to an end a game that the hosts will want to forget, but that Qatar will remember for years to come.

    Captain Saud Kariri underlined why Saudi Arabia entered the final as favourites with a goal after 16 minutes at the nearly full King Fahd stadium but Qatar replied almost immediately with a well taken header from defender Al Mahdi Ali.

    Algerian-born Khoukhi Boualem scored the winner for the men in maroon and white in the 58th minute to hand Qatar their first Gulf title away from home.

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