So near, yet so far for Oman

Dubai: Oman, for the second successive time, lost the Gulf Cup final to the host country.

The UAE defeated Oman 1-0 through a lone goal scored by striker Esmail Matter in the 18th Gulf Cup final on Tuesday. Oman also lost the previous edition in 2004 to then hosts Qatar through a penalty shoot-out.

In 2009, Oman will host the 19th edition in Muscat and have a good chance of clinching the title for the first time.

The new league-cum-knockout format was introduced for the first time in 2004, after the number of participating teams was increased to eight. This new format helped Oman reach the finals on both occasions.

From 1970 to 2003 the Gulf Cup was played in a round robin format with the top teams being crowned as champions and runners-up.

New format

When Yemen joined the Gulf Cup in 2003 and Iraq returned in 2004, the number of teams increased to eight.

In order to reduce the length of the tournament, a new system was opted for where the eight teams were divided into two groups. The top two teams from each group qualified for the semifinals, with the winners playing the final.

The old format didn't help Oman's cause as they finished at the bottom of the standings in most of the tournaments, scoring very few wins.

However, in the new format they managed to reach the final, but were unfortunate to lose on both occasions, which drew comparisons between Oman and Holland.

In 1974, Holland lost the World Cup Finals to hosts Germany and in 1978 they lost for the second successive time to hosts Argentina.

The Omanis, who were upset after losing to UAE, will now be looking to make it third time lucky when they host the event in two years' time.

The Omanis have learnt a hard lesson that winning the premier event of the region is not easy.

The UAE hosted it two times earlier but couldn't win it. Saudi Arabia also waited for 24 years before winning their first title in 1994.

However, hosting the Gulf Cup doesn't mean that the host country will win it. The Omanis hosted the Gulf Cup twice in 1984 and in 1996, but failed to even win the bronze medal on both occasions.