Glorious moment: Shaikh Khalifa presents the Gulf Cup trophy to the UAE team in the presence of Yemeni President
Ali Abdullah Saleh in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Esmail Mattar scored the match-winner in the 73rd minute
By Yasir Abbasher, Staff Reporter
Abu Dhabi: The UAE rewrote the Gulf Cup history by winning the 18th edition of the premier regional tournament, after beating Oman through a solitary goal scored by Esmail Mattar.
The winner came in the 72nd minute at Zayed Sports City Stadium on Tuesday following a goalless first half.
The UAE were the better side for the most part of the match after both teams opted a cautious 4:5:1 formation to secure domination of the midfield.
The hosts, cheered by more than 50,000 enthusiastic supporters, started the match with Majid Nasir in goal. Adil Abdul Aziz, Basheer Saeed, Rashid Abdul Rahman and Hayder Allo Ali in defence.
Hilal Saeed, Abdul Rahim Jumaa, Salem Khamis, and Subait Khater in midfield, while Mattar operated directly in front of them and behind the lone striker Mohammad Omar.
Mattar and Khamis were assisting Omar in attack, and the three combined well to make too many forays into the Omani defence.
Abdul Rahim could have scored the first goal in the 17th minute when he received the pass from Mattar. After going into the penalty area, he crossed the ball instead of shooting into the net, only for the defenders to clear for a corner.
Abdul Rahim moved in from the right flank and crossed from near the flag, a diving header from Mattar was well saved by Ali Al Habsi, the Oman custodian, 31 minutes into the match.
Adil Abdul Aziz was injured in the last minute of the first half following a tough tackle from Khalifa Ayel, Oman's libero.
Bruno Metsu, the head coach of the UAE, replaced Ayel with Saleh Obaid in the second half.
Oman striker Emad Al Housni started the second half with a first time shot that flew over the UAE's bar, one minute on resumption.
Three minutes later, the UAE made a prompt reply when Subait sent a free kick high to Basheer, whose header rebounded off the upleft.
Oman midfielder Fawzi Basheer missed a golden chance in the 65th minute, following a cross from Hassan Mudhaffar. Basheer's first time shot was deflected by Majid for a corner.
Khalid Darwish replaced a tiring Khamis and Metsu brought in Mohammad Surour in place of Omar in the 67th minute to strengthen his attack.
In the 71st minute, Mattar had the misfortune of seeing his shot, off an Obaid cross, getting deflected by the upleft. But a minute later the outstanding striker made amends and helped his country realise a long-cherished dream.
After receiving a long pass from Abdul Rahim, Mattar went on to beat Al Habsi for the all important goal.
Oman exerted pressure and tried to level the scores, but the UAE defenders kept them at bay until the end.
.jpg)
