Teams blame refereeing after dull opening games

Muscat: It is difficult to choose between the teams in Group A so far as to their chances of making it to the semifinals. After Bahrain defeated Iraq 3-1 and Kuwait held hosts Oman goalless, this group looks quite open.

Bahrain currently lead the group with three points, followed by Oman and Kuwait with a single point each, while Iraq are yet to win their first point in the regional competition.

Both matches on the opening day of the tournament failed to entertain and were marred by bad temper, especially the day's second contest between Baharin and Iraq, which resulted in the sending off of two Iraqi players by the UAE referee, Mohammad Al Junaibi.

Both Bahrain and Iraq were awarded a penalty kick each. It is only natural in a game like this that losers will make the referee the scapegoat for the loss and that is precisely what Iraq have done.

"We have been slaughtered by the referee," Karrar Jasem, the Iraqi striker, told Gulf News after Sunday's match. "His controversial decisions forced us to finish the match with nine players. We could have levelled the scores, after having reduced the deficit to 2-1, even as Bahrain scored a goal from a clear offside."

"The referee and his assistants prevented us from winning the opening match. They ignored a number of cases that should have gone in our favour," Shaikh Salem Bin Saeed Al Waheebi, the vice-president of the Oman Football Association, said after the opening match, accusing Uzbek referee Rafshan Arimanov and his assistants of depriving the hosts of a certain victory.

But despite the accusations and complaints, the fact was that the two matches were dull, technically poor and all the four teams committed a number of mistakes.

Oman created a number of easy scoring chances, but their strikers lacked in concentration inside the box and failed to score. Kuwait did no better, with Ahmad Ajab squandering two sitters.

In the other game, Bahrain dominated the show, despite being down to nine players. They created a number of opportunities, but were content with scoring only three goals - two of which were doubtful, according to their opponents.