By Sports Reporter/Riyadh
Qatar are hoping to find their scoring touch when they take on Oman in the semi-finals of the Gulf Cup at the King Fahd International Stadium here today. The match begins at 5.45pm.
With luck playing a major role in their progress to the last four phase – they qualified despite drawing all their three Group A matches – Qatar are well aware that they are in a situation that cannot continue beyond a point.
Qatar’s inability to find the net despite dominating in phases against Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Bahrain is a big worry, especially because they are due to take part in the Asian Cup in Australia in January, which is much tougher and bigger in scope than the regional football gala.
As a desperate measure, coach Djamel Belmadi banned players from talking to the media as the squad held their training behind closed doors on Friday.
Karim Boudiaf, Ibrahim Majid and Hassan al-Haidos were all rested from Friday’s training session after taking part in all the games of the tournament so far.
Injured captain Bilal Mohamed was also absent and Almahdi Ali is set to deputize for him, while Mohamed Musa will return to the right back position.
Oman, on the other hand, have worked up cracking form just towards the business end of the tournament.
They thrashed Kuwait 5-0 to top Group B thanks to a 16-minute hat-trick from substitute Said Al-Ruzaiqi, who would be hoping to
continue to carry his form into the semi-finals. Meanwhile, the Qatari players received a boost ahead of their crucial match when Qatar Football Association President Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani visited them during training.
The QFA chief spoke to the players and urged them to produce their best form in the match against Oman.
The second semi-final will be played between Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Qatar coach Djamel Belmadi speaks to the players at yesterday’s training session.
