Bahrain clinch football gold

Ismaeel Hasan broke Jordanian hearts and earned Bahrain the 2011 Arab Games football gold with a last-gasp goal for a 1-0 victory at Al Sadd Sports Club yesterday. In the final event of the Games, Hasan latched on to a misplaced pass by Jordan defender Suleiman al-Salman and fired coolly past goalkeeper Lo’Ai Alamaireh.Kuwait claimed the bronze after beating Palestine 3-0 in the play-off earlier on the day.The final whistle brought contrasting scenes. Bahrain’s players celebrated passionately and hugged English coach Peter Taylor, while Jordan’s footballers sunk to the ground, al- Salman with tears in his eyes.It is the first time Bahrain have won a football medal at the Arab Games. Jordan’s silver sits with the golds they won in 1999 and 1997.Jordan threatened the Bahrain goal a few times during a tight contest, but Bahrain’s Abdulla Alhazaa missed a glorious chance in the 85th minute when he failed to make contact on a corner with the net at his mercy.But it did not matter when, three minutes later, Hasan struck his third goal of the tournament.Bahrain coach Peter Taylor was delighted at his team’s performance in the match as the Englishman said: “We deserve to take credit for winning this tough match against the Jordanian team. To be fair, I would not have been confident that we could have won the match had it gone into extra time.’’‘’I am very pleased with the players’ achievements, and I am very proud to have won two tournaments in less than two months,” he added. “I’m sure that this winning in Qatar against a strong team like Jordan will make them more confident, especially as they are young and improving. We will have to keep on the good work.”At the post-match conference, Taylor admitted that his team went into the match as underdogs. “Before the match I felt that Jordan was the best team in the tournament,” he told reporters. “In the first half they showed how good they are, and our players were nervous. “In the second half we started to play a little more football and became very good. I think also Jordan’s players got tired,” he explained.“We were concerned about the way they attack, we knew we wouldn’t have a lot of chances to score.” Bahrain, who fought back from a 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with host Qatar in their opening match, went on to qualify as the Group A winners after a 3-0 victory over Iraq.They then put off the challenge of surprise package Palestine 3-1 in Tuesday’s semi-finals to set up the summit clash with Jordan.Jordan, led by Iraqi coach Adnan Hamad, topped Group C with a win and two draws, saw off Kuwait 2-0 after extra time in their semi-final. Bahrain’s Ismaeel Hasan feels that tough Kuwait victory played to their team’s final victory.‘’The Jordanian team’s energy was consumed in their semifinal match against Kuwait which we took advantage of, as well as the confusion among their defenders,” said Hasan. But he demanded credit for their hard work yesterday.“I am happy because everyone’s efforts paid off, the players, the coach, the technical team, and the managerial team. Eventually we were able to clinch the first gold medal in the football competition for Bahrain.”