Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Jeddah: World Cup 2014 hopefuls Iraq lost 2-1 to Morocco in their Arab Cup 2012 semi-final match at Prince Abdullah al Faisal Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday.
The Moroccans scored two goals in the space of five minutes (23rd and 27th minutes) through Ismail Belmaalem and Yassine Salhi respectively and Iraq’s efforts to get back on track seemed futile until the very last minute (90+6 minutes) when Mustafa Karim Abdullah was given a penalty which he converted successfully but it was too little too late for the Iraqis.
The Zico-led Iraq team are now set to meet Saudi Arabia in the third-place play-off on July 5 at the same stadium.
A total of 11 Arab nations including seven from Asia were participating in the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) championship that offers US$1 million in cash prize to the champions.
Iraq are unbeaten with two points in Group B of the World Cup qualifiers and are at second position behind leaders Japan after drawing their matches against West Asian rivals Jordan and Oman. They will travel to Japan to take on the leaders when the qualifiers resume in September.