Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia left it late to book their place in the 2014 Gulf Cup of Nations final after recording a 3-2 semi-final win over the United Arab Emirates on Sunday evening.
The Green Falcons broke the deadlock at the King Fahd International Stadium after 19 minutes, when Nasser Al Shamrani was allowed to ghost into the box completely unmarked and turn home a dangerous ball by Saeed Al Muwallad.
Just three minutes later, they looked firmly in control of proceedings as Nawaf Al Abed doubled their lead by rifling a shot past Ali Khasif, after some awful defending from the Emiratis had seen them fail to deal with Taisir Al Jassim’s right-wing delivery.
However, UAE were handed a lifeline eight minutes into the second half when Ahmed Khalil nodded home an Amer Abdulrahman freekick, and the Al Ahli striker scored again in the 79th minute as the defending champions looked to have pulled off a stunning comeback.
But with four minutes left on the clock, Salem Al Dawsari popped up and found the back of the net to win it for the hosts and keep alive their hopes of becoming champions for the first time since 2003.
Standing in between them and a fourth Gulf Cup of Nations in Wednesday’s final will be Qatar, who advanced from the last four earlier in the day after beating Oman 3-1.
Saudi Arabia will also be looking to end the tournament on a high and give themselves a big boost ahead of next January’s AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia, where they have been pitted against Uzbekistan, China and DPR Korea in Group B.
Photo: AFP