Tough clashes for Gulf Cup semi-finals

CAIRO – 30 December 2017: Iraq defeated Yemen 3-0 on Friday in the Gulf Cup to secure their qualification to the semi-final after they topped their group with seven points.

The Iraqi players, who needed only one point from their game against Yemen to secure their qualification, dominated the game from the first moment and created many chances to score, but they failed to break Yemen’s defense in the first half.

In the second half, Iraq destroyed their opponent with three goals. Ali Feisal opened the scoring for Iraq in the 54th minute, and, nine minutes later, Ali Faez doubled the score for his team through a penalty. Mahdi Kamel made the score 3-0 minutes before the final whistle with a wonderful strike, securing the team’s qualification to the second round.

In the other match in the group, Bahrain ended their game against Qatar with a 1-1 draw. Qatar opened the scoring through a penalty by Hassan El Haidous, while Ali Gaafar equalized the score for Bahrain.

Iraq topped the group with seven points to qualify to the semi-finals alongside second-placed Bahrain, who earned five points.

Iraq faces UAE, while Bahrain will meet Oman in the semi-final on Tuesday.