Gulf 19 .. Oman enters the record of champions and Al Habsi is the best for the fourth edition

After 17 participations since 1974, and the failure of the 17 Gulf finals (loss against Qatar on penalties 6/5, after a 1/1 draw), and 18 against the Emirates 2007 (0/1), the Omani Red succeeded in registering its name in the list of Gulf Cup champions, by During the nineteenth edition hosted by the Sultanate of Oman from 4 to 17 January 2009, its confrontations took place at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher, and the police.

The tournament draw ceremony was held on October 30, 2008, in the presence of Gulf stars: Saudi Naser Al-Johar, Iraqi Ahmed Radi, Qatari Fahd Al-Kuwari, Emirati Mohammed Omar, Yemeni Jabab Bashafi’i, Bahraini Khamis Obaid, and Omani Mohsen Saleh.

The Sultanate was placed at the top of the first group as the host, and the group included Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq, while the UAE was placed at the top of the second group as the defending champion, in addition to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Yemen.

The opening of the tournament was attended by Mohammed bin Hammam, President of the Asian Confederation, and Michel Platini, President of the European Union.

Oman topped the group with 7 points from two wins and a draw, and Kuwait came second with 5 points from a win and two draws. Saudi Arabia qualified from Group Two with 7 points from two wins and a draw, and Qatar with 5 points from a win and two draws.

In the semi-finals of the tournament, Al-Ahmar defeated Al-Annabi of Qatar with a clean goal scored by the top scorer of the edition, Hassan Rabie, and Al-Akhdar defeated the Kuwaiti Blue with a goal by Ahmed Al-Faridi, to set Al-Ahmar a date with Al-Akhdar in the 13th confrontation over the course of the Gulf Cup championships, and the results of the previous 12 were all in favor of Al-Akhdar, and the two teams kept their nets clean during that edition, but Al-Ahmar succeeded in winning the first victory over his Saudi brother, and the first title of the Gulf Cup with a penalty shootout 6/5, after a goalless tie in the original and extra time, scored for Al-Ahmar Khalifa Ayel, Ismail Al-Ajmi, Hassan Muzaffar, Hashem Salih, Fawzi Bashir, and Muhammad Rabea, and scored for Al-Akhdar Yasser Al-Qahtani, Saud Kariri, Reda Tucker, Ahmed Atif, Osama Hawsawi, and Tayseer Al-Jassim wasted.

Saudi Al-Akhdar scored the most with 10 goals, while Qatar, Al-Qubat, Yemen, and Iraq scored the least (2), and the Omani and Saudi teams did not concede any goals, while the Yemeni team received the most goals (11).

In that tournament, 31 goals were scored, over the course of 15 matches, and Omani Hassan Rabie won the top scorer award with 4 goals, and Saudi defender Majid Al-Murshidi won the best player award. He was also chosen as the best player in two matches, and Omani Ali Al Habsi, the English player of Bolton, won the award of best goalkeeper in the tournament for the fourth time in a row, after Gulf 16, 17 and 18.

Scorers:

4 goals: Hassan Rabie (Oman) – 2 goals: Malik Moaz, Yasser Al-Qahtani, Ahmed Al-Faridi (Saudi Arabia) and Ali Al-Nono (Yemen) – 1 goal: Abdullah Omar Ismail, Muhammad Al-Sayed Adnan, Abdullah Saleh Al-Dakhil, Bader Al-Maimani, Fawzi Bashir (Bahrain), Younis Mahmoud and Alaa Abdul Al-Zahra (Iraq), Muhammad Omar, Ismail Al-Hammadi, Muhammad Al-Shehhi (UAE), Emad Al-Hosani (Oman), Musaed Nada, Khaled Khalaf (Kuwait), Abdullah Al-Shuhail, Ahmed Atif, Ahmed Al-Mousa, Abdullah Al-Zuri (Saudi Arabia), Musa Haroun and Majdi Siddiq (Qatar).