Oman and Kuwait face do-or-die matches

Muscat: It is D-Day for the teams of Group A in the 19th Gulf Cup, which enters the last stages of the first round tonight with three teams fighting for two seats in the semifinals.

The only team that have no chance is reigning are Asian Cup holders Iraq, who lost both their first two matches in the group qualifications.

Tonight hosts Oman face Bahrain in Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher while Kuwait play against Iraq at the Police Stadium.

Oman and Kuwait have four points each from two matches, while Bahrain have three. Oman will reach the semifinals, if they win or draw, the same as Kuwait, while Bahrain have to win all three points to reach the semifinals.

"It is a difficult match but we have no other way than to beat the hosts," Milan Macala, the Bahraini head coach who led Oman in the last two versions of the Gulf Cup to reach second place in both, told reporters yesterday.

"All the matches are difficult and this match will be more so. If we want to reach the semifinals then we should be able to win the points," Macala, who has been criticised fiercely by the Bahraini press, added.

Bahrain will miss the services of their star player Hussain Baba, who collected two yellow cards.

Oman, on the other hand, are in high spirits after beating Iraq 4-0, their biggest result against them in the history of the Gulf Cup, and look on their way to winning their first-ever title. Their striker Hassan Rabie, the hat-trick hero in their last match, will be under strict marking from Bahrain, but they have others who can score with Emad Al Hosani and Hashim Saleh also in the e line-up. "We have to continue showing the same standards we displayed against Iraq. We have tremendous support from out fantastic fans and we know how it will be difficult to beat Bahrain but we have to do what we have to do," Claude Le Roy said yesterday.

Kuwaiti coach Mohammad Ebrahim has been praised the most in the tournament so far for applying suitable plans according to his team's capabilities. But it was mainly defensive strategies during his team's 0-0 draw with Oman and 1-0 win against Bahrain. Tonight, facing Iraq, they will have to do much better and score more goals to secure a place in the semifinals bearing in mind that Iraq will be fight for pride.

"We will apply our same game plan. It succeeded against Oman and Bahrain and we expect to succeed against Iraq too," Ebrahim said.