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Saudi Arabia vs. Bahrain in 24th Gulf Cup competing for title

Saudi Arabia vs. Bahrain in 24th Gulf Cup competing for title

By Saud Al-Ajmi and Saud Al-Duwaila

DOHA, Dec 8 (KUNA) -- The 24th Arabian Gulf Cup tournament held in Qatar to conclude on Sunday, with the final match between the Saudi national team and its Bahraini counterpart in Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium at seven in Sunday evening.
Both teams managed to overcome all difficulties to reach the finals.
The Saudi Arabia national football team started its career in the tournament with a loss from its Kuwaiti counterpart, which had three goals, leading the Saudi team excluded from qualifying even from the group stage and not compete for the title.
In the last round, Saudi Arabia beat Oman with three goals going to the semi-finals, leading the group with six points.
Bahraini team's journey was more difficult than its opponent, as it qualified for the semi-final after finishing last place before the third round.
Bahrain tied with the Oman national football team.
Bahrain overcame Kuwait by 4-2 and qualified for the semi-finals.
In the semi-final round, the Bahraini team played its Iraqi counterpart in the match until it led to a penalty shootout and won 5-3.
The Bahraini team seeks to achieve its first Gulf title, while its Saudi counterpart searches for the fourth title.
It is necessary to focus and exploit the opponent's mistakes and score goals to win the title, Bahraini Team's Coach Helio Sousa said during the press conference before facing the Saudi team.
Meanwhile, Saudi Team's Coach Herve Renard said during the conference that the team came to achieve the title, not to participate only.
The Saudi team is superior to its Bahraini counterpart in the history of their confrontations with the championship, where they met in the Gulf Championships 18 times, Saudi Arabia won 10 times, Bahrain 4 times, while the tie was 4 times.
The 24th Gulf Cup awards are the highest in the history of the tournament, where the champion gets USD two million, while all teams receive USD one million for their participation in the tournament.
Kuwait tops the list of the most teams winning the title with ten times, while Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iraq achieved it three times, whereas Oman and UAE got it twice. (end) sss.sad.lr