Al Furaidi Goal Takes Saudis to the Finals

A brilliant goal by Ahmed Al Furaidi assisted Saudi Arabia’s national football team to secure their ticket for finals of the 19th Gulf Cup football after their win 1:0 win against Kuwait in the semi finals. The one and only goal came in the second half in the 65th minute by an impressive play by Striker Tayseer Al Jasim collected the ball and passed it to Ahmed who shot the ball into the net perfectly. “It was fantastic. Our team played for a win and we deserved it,” said Nasser Johar, Saudi Arabia’s football coach after the match. “Now we have two days before the finals and we will be playing against a strong Omani team,” said Nasser. The match itself was a mediocre affair with both sides committing a lot of errors, but the Saudi midfielders did give them the edge in the attack. Kuwait started as the better team in offence and their mercurial player Ahmed Ajab’s attempted goals were saved several times by Saudi custodian Waleed Abdullah Ali. The Saudis failed to stay calm during the first half hour of the second half, resulting in yellow yellow card warnings for Ahmed Taief and Saud Kariri. Kuwait coach Mohammed Ibrahim stated that his team played against a much better opponent and that they were completely outplayed by the Saudis in all aspects of the game, “We did not commit ourselves to booking a place in the final. We played against a better opponent. They outplayed us in all departments” In addition, Ibrahim thanked the Kuwaiti government and football fans for supporting the team through out the tournament. “We have come from nowhere. We never thought we would make it to the semifinals, but thanks to our government and football fans we are here,” Ibrahim said. Kuwait made a last minute entry into the Gulf Cup tournament after Fifa lifted their ban temporarily.