Another night of football saw another performance of top quality from the UAE as the Whites stormed into the Gulf Cup semifinals with a thumping 3-0 win over defending champions Bahrain.
After Ousmane scored the first goal in the 30th minute, the UAE dominated the Group B match with their midfield superiority at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City Stadium, Jeddah, on Sunday.
Guilherme (66th minute) and Ali Saleh (88th minute) then found the back of the net in the second half as Bahrain struggled to cope with the UAE’s passing range and interplay in the final third.
Having won their first game 4-0 against Yemen on Thursday, the UAE have now grabbed the top spot in Group B with six points from two matches.
Two-time Asian champions Qatar, which beat Yemen 1-0 in the other Group B match of the night, have also collected six points from the same number of games.
But the UAE have raced to the top spot on the back of their better goal-scoring record.
On Saturday, hosts Saudi Arabia thrashed Oman 3-0 and Iraq beat Kuwait 3-2 in a five-goal thriller.
The top two teams in each group of this eight-team regional tournament will advance to the semifinals.
Both the semifinals will be played on October 3, while the final is scheduled for October 6.
As Bahrain and Yemen have already been eliminated from the semifinal race in Group B, the UAE’s final game against Qatar on September 30 will determine the group winner.
The already-qualified Saudi Arabia (six points from two matches) need only a draw against second-placed Iraq (four points from two games) in their final Group A game on September 29 to win Group A.
A draw will be enough for Iraq to beat Oman (one point from two matches) for the second semifinal spot in Group A.
The UAE, who won the tournament in 2007 and 2013, will hope to top Group B and avoid hosts Saudi Arabia in the semifinals.
But their superb form in the first two games has already raised expectations among fans as the team under new head coach Zlatko Dalic is beginning to play an attractive style of football.
Dalic, who famously took Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final and also helped his native country reach the semifinals in Qatar 2022, will hope to earn a trophy for the UAE in his first tournament as manager.
There is still a long way to go, but with seven goals from two matches, three of which came against defending champions Bahrain, the UAE have every right to feel confident about making a serious challenge for the title in Jeddah.
Source: Khaleej Times