Bahrain beat Kuwait to clinch bronze

Bahrain had the consolation of the soccer bronze at the 17th Gulf Cup after beating Kuwait 3-1 yesterday in an absorbing encounter.

The match, expected to be poorly contested as both teams failed to make it to the finals, came as a pleasant surprise as each team showed enough motivation to win the encounter between the two traditional rivals.

Bahrain played a more attacking game as Kuwait consolidated their defence and depended on counter attacks to reach their opponent's goal. They relied on the one-line defence to stop the waves of the Bahraini attacks.

Mohammad Salmeen sent a penetrating pass that broke the offside trap and found Salman Eissa in the clear to cross from the left flank. Kuwait's professional defender Masaad Nada deflected the ball into his own net, 31 minutes into the match.

Bahrain's celebrations were short as Nada made amends when he sent a free kick high behind the Bahrain's defenders for Saqr Mutair to level the score with a beautiful header only three minutes later.

Ahmad Al Shammari should have added the second goal for Kuwait but his fierce shot was blocked by the upleft, three minutes before the break.

In the second half, Bahrain continued to attack and Kuwait custodian Shihab Knakoni made some brilliant saves. Tilal Yousuf, Douaij Nasir and Alaa Hubail were on a rampage before the later added Bahrain's second goal following a cross from Salman on the left, 11 minutes after the breather.

Both teams squandered sitters till the first minute of injury-time when Douaij had the last laugh when he received a through from Mohammad Jaafar inside the penalty box to score an easy goal. Tilal Yousuf won the $1000 (Dh 3675) prize for the Most Valuble Player of the match.

Final preview and other Gulf Cup stories on Page 41