Saudi Keep Hopes Alive with Win Herve Renard’S Side Beat Bahrain 2-0 After Abdullah Al-Hamdan and Mohamed Al-Khabrani Score in Crucial Game
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CRICKET | Page 4 FORMULA 1 | Page 6 Warner shines Hamilton with triple-ton storms to fi nal against Pakistan pole of the on Day 2 season Sunday, December 1, 2019 Rabia II 4, 1441 AH GULF TIMES SPORT REPORT Saudi keep hopes alive with win Herve Renard’s side beat Bahrain 2-0 after Abdullah al-Hamdan and Mohamed al-Khabrani score in crucial game By Sahan Bidappa book their place in the semi- only three, that too in the fi nal 25th minute but Thiago Au- Doha fi nal. For Bahrain, who are in stages of the match. gusto’s attempt was blocked fourth position in the group With a 3-1 loss to Bahrain by goalkeeper Fawaz al-Qarni with just one point, cour- aff ecting their goal diff erence, brilliantly. audi Arabia resurrected tesy their drawn game against Renard played three strikers It needed a special strike their 24th Arabian Gulf Oman, they need to beat Kuwait upfront in the aim of reducing from al-Hamdan to open Sau- Cup campaign with a tomorrow and also hope Saudi the defi cit. While they enjoyed di’s account in the 29th minute. dominating 2-0 win will lose to Oman. plenty of spaces in the wide ar- After receiving a ball from Sa- Sover Bahrain at the Abdullah Defending champions Oman eas, Bahrain with four defend- lem al-Dawsari in the edge of Bin Khalifa Stadium yesterday. are top of Group B with four ers on the back and a defensive the box, the 20-year-old Al The Saudis were under pres- points, while Kuwait sit in sec- midfi elder playing in a central Shabab striker turned swiftly sure coming into the match, ond place with three points and role, were tough to break down. and fi red into the top corner. having been shocked by Kuwait a +1 goal diff erence. Al-Khabrani thought he had There were two clear chances in the opener, but put on an as- Renard had blamed Saudi’s put Saudi ahead in the 10th for Bahrain around the one- sured display to calm the nerves defeat to Kuwait due to lack of minute, when he bundled in hour mark, which they spurned. in the camp. preparation, but last night his from close range past Bahrain’s Saudi, meanwhile, took their Goals from Abdullah al- side looked ready and were in goalkeeper Waleed al-Hayam. chances as they doubled the Hamdan and Mohamed al- total command against Bahrain. But the defender was ruled to lead in 58th minute. Bahrain Khabrani in each half gave They controlled the possession be off -side and the goal was defenders could only watch as Herve Renard’s side three from the beginning and should disallowed. al-Khabrani headed in from a points, and now would need have scored more. Saudi continued to create corner. Bahrain upped the ante a victory against defending In total, Saudi had 15 shots to many chances, but lacked the in search of a goal or two, but champions Oman in the fi nal Bahrain’s 10, but the former had fi nal touch. Bahrain, mean- there was no serious threat for Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah al-Hamdan (second from left) celebrates his goal with teammates during the 24th Arabian Group B game tomorrow to six on target while the latter had while, had an opening in the Saudi’s defence to counter. Gulf Cup match against Bahrain at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium yesterday. PICTURE: Anas Khalid Gulf Times Sunday, December 1, 2019 2 FOCUS SPOTLIGHT Al Annabi have We will have our destiny the mentality of a in our hand: UAE coach By Yash Mudgal style. It’s all about mental prepa- winner: Sanchez ration. We all know what we have Doha to do and now performance of players matter,” he said. Asian champs Qatar only need a draw against the UAE tomorrow to reach semis AE coach Bert van Mar- The UAE coach also feels that wijk has said he is rely- his side has shown improvement ing on mental strength after each game. for the must-win match “Our performance in the fi rst Uagainst Qatar, the “best” team in half against Iraq was bad, but the tournament, tomorrow. the performance improved in the Anything less than three second half, and if we can play points tomorrow against hosts the same pattern against Qatar Qatar in their fi nal Group A game we will win,” he said. will end their 24th Arabian Gulf When asked about his future, Cup campaign. he said: “I am here to talk about “It will be a tough game. Qatar our game against Qatar and not has players who have been play- to talk about my future,” he con- ing for years with each other, cluded. and this was proved in their per- He said his side is young but formance against Yemen. In my they have a very good future. opinion they are the best, but we “We have a very young side. will have our destiny in our hand They need time to develop their as we have our chance. We have game. On one side, we need time, to give our best to win against but I realise on the other side them,” Van Marwijk, who guid- that we don’t get time because ed the Netherlands to the 2010 everyone expects results. That’s World Cup fi nal, said yesterday. always the diffi cult thing for the UAE lost to Iraq at the Khalifa coach. But we start every game to International Stadium on Friday, try and win,” he said. following their opening 3-0 win UAE player Mohamed al-Attas over Yemen. said his side will go for the win. The Dutchman has full confi - “The match will be diffi cult dence in his side for the match. for both teams, Qatar may play “We train every day because we to draw or win, but we have to want to play our own game, and win and we will give our best for through that implement our own that,” he said. Action from the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup match between Yemen (in white) and Qatar (in maroon) at the Khalifa International Stadium on Friday. PICTURE: Ram Chand By Yash Mudgal half of the game,” he said. Confederation’s (AFC) Player Doha Sanchez also feels they took of the Year Award, for the UAE their chances well, unlike in the game, the Spaniard said he fi rst match against Iraq. hasn’t decided the team combi- atar coach Felix “First games in such compe- nation yet. Sanchez said his side titions are diffi cult. We did not “We still have to make the will go in to their manage to exploit the opportu- decision regarding selection of crucial last Group A nities we got against Iraq, but players for the match. We need Qmatch of the 24th Arabian Gulf against Yemen we scored early, all the players valuable for the Cup against the UAE tomorrow and the players are trying to give team. We need to review how with a “mentality of a winner”. their best in any match, fi ghting ready the team is and also to see “My team has the mentality to win,” he said. some medical reports about the of a winner. We will enter Mon- Sanchez feels that it will be a injured players and depending day’s game against the UAE with hard game as Emiratis are in a on the readiness of the players, an aim to win. I know even a must-win situation. we will select the squad.” draw is good for us against them, “They need to win to qualify Afi f was instrumental in help- but it’s always risky to play for a and it makes the game more ing his side’s win their maiden draw. We are taking it as a fi nal,” challenging. Our focus is on Asian Cup title this year. The Sanchez said yesterday. having a good game plan and 22-year-old Villarreal player is Asian champions and hosts will take it from there,” he said. on loan at Al Sadd and has also Qatar defeated Yemen 6-0 in their On the injury to Abdulaziz helped the Qatari club reach the second group match on Friday Hatem, Sanchez said he does AFC Champions League semi- and only need a draw, as they have Qatar coach Felix Sanchez. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil not yet know if he will be avail- fi nals this season. a better goal advantage, against able for the rest of the competi- Commenting over Abdulka- the UAE to reach the semis along You can’t take any team lightly. his team’s performance against tion or not. rim Hassan, who scored a hat- with Iraq, who defeated the Emi- They all have their strengths. Yemen. Talking about the fans in the trick against Yemen, he said, ratis 2-0 on Friday. Yesterday’s game against Yemen “We put in a great perform- stadium, he said we need their “He is a proven match-winner. Coach Srecko Katanec’s Iraq was also like a fi nal game. The ance. I am happy that the boys support all the time. He has won the matches for us beat hosts Qatar 2-1 in their victory gave us a chance to stay succeeded in creating opportu- “I hope the stadium will be in the past as well. I think he did opening game and, with six alive and now we expect a tough nities and scored early, which full on Monday.