Sport | Football

Saudi Arabian and Yemen in must-win match

Favourites Saudi Arabia face underdogs Yemen in a tricky Group B encounter with the loser facing the threat of exit from the competition.

  • By Yasir Abbasher, Senior Reporter
  • Published: 23:38 January 7, 2009
  • Gulf News

Muscat: Favourites Saudi Arabia face underdogs Yemen in a tricky Group B encounter with the loser facing the threat of exit from the competition.

Saudi Arabia has lost a precious point against Qatar, some experts say that they won a valuable point, while Yemen lost all three against the UAE.

Defeat tonight will simply mean that the losers will have to start packing their bags preparing to return home at the end of the first round.

The Saudi camp was not convinced or happy with the team's result in their first match as Prince Sultan Bin Fahad Al Saud said after the match with Qatar, "This is the worst ever performance for a Saudi team."

The Saudis are capable of winning the title for a fourth time in their history and comparison between them and Yemen is non-existent because of the vast difference in capabilities whether financial or human but the Yemen team are fighters and they gave the defending champions, UAE, a difficult 90 minutes before bowing out.

"We know the strength of Yemen and we will be ready for them with great respect for their team," Nasir Al Jawhar said.

"We are more concerned about our team and the mistake they did in the first match. We hope we will win this match to continue in the race for the title."

Mohsin Saleh, the coach of Yemen who confirmed that he will leave the team at the end of the Gulf Cup, said, "We know our capabilities and that of the Saudis. We will play up to our means and fight for an honourable result."

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