MUSCAT — Two red cards, two penalty goals…After so many on-field dramas, Milan Macala’s orange brigade, Bahrain, beat a beleaguered Iraqi side 3-1 in the second match of Group A held at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex yesterday.
In a tension-packed game, Iraq’s Haitham Kazi Tahir got the first red card in the 25th minute of the first half of play for knocking down Mohammed Hubail, reducing the Iraqi side to ten players. The Bahrain side took full advantage of the situation when Abdulla Omar scored the first goal in the 27th minute. Iraq’s goalkeeper, Ali Hussein Arahima, was the second player to receive the red card after he caught Bahrain’s Abdulla Omar by hand. Although Iraq sacrificed by replacing Ali Hussein with Mahdi Ageel as goalkeeper, the team was reduced to nine players. And to add to their woes, the team also conceded a penalty, scored by Said Adnan.
Bahrain also received two yellow cards (red) from match referee Mohammed Junaibi. Iraq’s only goal came in the form of a penalty from their star striker Yunis Kalaf. But as the match was extended to injury time, Bahrain’s Fawzi Aish struck the third goal.
A delighted Macala praised his team for the convincing victory, but pointed out a lot of mistakes that his side had committed. “I saw a lot of mistakes in both the defense and the offence. We shall rectify those mistakes in the next match,” said Macala at the post-match press conference yesterday.
Asked if Oman is his favourite hunting ground, Macala gave a diplomatic answer, admitting that his side was under some pressure before heading to Muscat. “It’s good to be back again, but this championship is difficult and like I mentioned earlier, we were under a lot of pressure due to various reasons,” said the former coach of Oman.
“We played to our potential. Ask the referee why he gave red cards to Iraq and not me. You can’t call it lucky, but of course we took full advantage of it and that’s how football has to be played,” the shrewd coach said on being asked if his side had been fortunate enough to win after the Iraqi side had been reduced to nine players.
Asked if the win had boosted the morale of his side to win the Gulf Cup for the first time, Macala said his side had some more troubles ahead and that it was still only the first round of the tournament. “Let us enter the second round, then we will talk of reaching the finals and winning the Gulf Cup,” Macala said.
Meanwhile, the Iraq team blamed the loss on its bad luck and injury to few of their key players.
“Firstly it was bad luck. Secondly, a few of our players were injured while playing due to which we lost the match. They have all played in big tournaments so we can’t blame it on their inability to win matches,” Raheem Hamid, assistant coach of Iraq, said.
“We never expected to get red cards. It should not have happened. We will have a serious team meeting and will analyse our mistakes before our match against Oman,”
Many of the Iraqi players in the current line up are playing in Qatar-based clubs, but they put up a lacklustre performance against the Bahrainis. “They are all professionals and know how to play well. It was not our day, but we will come back strongly,” Raheem said.
Asked whether the referee Junaibi had been too harsh against Iraq and whether his side would be talking to the referee committee, Raheem said all options were open. “We have not thought about that yet. But certainly that option is on the card, and we may talk to the referee committee. It should not have come from him in such a harsh manner,” added a visibly upset Raheem.
In a tension-packed game, Iraq’s Haitham Kazi Tahir got the first red card in the 25th minute of the first half of play for knocking down Mohammed Hubail, reducing the Iraqi side to ten players. The Bahrain side took full advantage of the situation when Abdulla Omar scored the first goal in the 27th minute. Iraq’s goalkeeper, Ali Hussein Arahima, was the second player to receive the red card after he caught Bahrain’s Abdulla Omar by hand. Although Iraq sacrificed by replacing Ali Hussein with Mahdi Ageel as goalkeeper, the team was reduced to nine players. And to add to their woes, the team also conceded a penalty, scored by Said Adnan.
Bahrain also received two yellow cards (red) from match referee Mohammed Junaibi. Iraq’s only goal came in the form of a penalty from their star striker Yunis Kalaf. But as the match was extended to injury time, Bahrain’s Fawzi Aish struck the third goal.
A delighted Macala praised his team for the convincing victory, but pointed out a lot of mistakes that his side had committed. “I saw a lot of mistakes in both the defense and the offence. We shall rectify those mistakes in the next match,” said Macala at the post-match press conference yesterday.
Asked if Oman is his favourite hunting ground, Macala gave a diplomatic answer, admitting that his side was under some pressure before heading to Muscat. “It’s good to be back again, but this championship is difficult and like I mentioned earlier, we were under a lot of pressure due to various reasons,” said the former coach of Oman.
“We played to our potential. Ask the referee why he gave red cards to Iraq and not me. You can’t call it lucky, but of course we took full advantage of it and that’s how football has to be played,” the shrewd coach said on being asked if his side had been fortunate enough to win after the Iraqi side had been reduced to nine players.
Asked if the win had boosted the morale of his side to win the Gulf Cup for the first time, Macala said his side had some more troubles ahead and that it was still only the first round of the tournament. “Let us enter the second round, then we will talk of reaching the finals and winning the Gulf Cup,” Macala said.
Meanwhile, the Iraq team blamed the loss on its bad luck and injury to few of their key players.
“Firstly it was bad luck. Secondly, a few of our players were injured while playing due to which we lost the match. They have all played in big tournaments so we can’t blame it on their inability to win matches,” Raheem Hamid, assistant coach of Iraq, said.
“We never expected to get red cards. It should not have happened. We will have a serious team meeting and will analyse our mistakes before our match against Oman,”
Many of the Iraqi players in the current line up are playing in Qatar-based clubs, but they put up a lacklustre performance against the Bahrainis. “They are all professionals and know how to play well. It was not our day, but we will come back strongly,” Raheem said.
Asked whether the referee Junaibi had been too harsh against Iraq and whether his side would be talking to the referee committee, Raheem said all options were open. “We have not thought about that yet. But certainly that option is on the card, and we may talk to the referee committee. It should not have come from him in such a harsh manner,” added a visibly upset Raheem.
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