JEDDAH, 20 December 2004 — Oman battle Bahrain and Kuwait take on Qatar in a pair of semifinal matches today in the high-octane 17th Arabian Gulf Cup Soccer Championship in Doha.
Oman qualified on top of Group A after winning their first two games, against Iraq 3-1 in the opening match and UAE 2-1. Oman, despite their 2-1 defeat against Qatar, qualified first with six points.
Oman are in for a rough sailing against Bahrain, easily the surprise package of the tournament who qualified second of Group B with five points from two draws in their preliminary matches against Yemen and Kuwait 1-1 and a marvelous 3-0 victory against Saudi Arabia, who as the defending champions of the tournament failed to retain the cup and eliminated from the championship. Both teams have never won the Gulf championship in their soccer history.
In the second match, Kuwait, the most successful side with nine championships under their belt, will test the resolve of the hosts.
Qatar go into the match looking for a win to keep alive their hopes of duplicating their feat in 1992 when they hosted and won the cup as well.
Qatar qualified for the semifinals with five points and are second in Group A after drawing their first two matches, 2-2 against UAE and 3-3 against Iraq and a fine 2-1 win against Oman.
Kuwait qualified first of Group B with seven points after beating Yemen 3-0 and tournament’s early favorites Saudi Arabia 2-1 in their opening game and drawing against Bahrain 1-1. The winners will play in the final next Friday and the losers will decide the third and fourth places next Thursday.
