Bahrain continues its path and qualifies for the Gulf Cup 24 finals

The Bahraini team puts their name in the finals of the 24th Gulf Cup after it managed to exclude the Iraqi team by winning on penalties. The two teams drew two goals each during the game and the extra half time.

The two teams inflamed the match from the start and after the first sixth minute which witnessed the physical rush when Iraq scored a goal after a direct free kick by Alaa Abdulzahra. The Bahraini goalkeeper Syed Shubr was not able to respond to it well, and the ball returned back to Muhannad Ali, who netted.

The Bahraini team sought to modify the result and threw their whole efforts on the attack to improve the score at the 15th minute by a head-kick from Abdullah Al Hayyan through a corner which scored a goal against Iraq.

It took only three minutes for Ibrahim Baysh to return the difference to Iraq, recording the second goal and taking advantage of the goalkeeper’s mistake. The first half was in favor of the Iraqi team until the second minute of the extra time. Mohammed Jassim raised the result on Bahrain’s side after receiving a long ball from his teammate and hit the net of Iraq.

In the second half and with the first minutes that tilted to Bahrain’s advantage, Muhammad Abdulwahab almost scored the goal by progressing through a direct free kick in which the Iraqi goalkeeper Jalal Hassan stood in a handicap after he blocked this beautiful shot. The Iraqi team responded with Mohand Ali’s header at the 69th minute which went by the Bahrain’s left bar.

With the passage of time, the two teams shared the possession with a decline in the level of performance and risk over the two teams’ goal. The 90 minutes ended with the same tie.

The minutes of the additional two periods did not result in a change of the result, so both teams ruled a penalty shoot-outs which finally smiled at Bahrain 4-3.