Riyadh: Oman coach Paul Le Guen praised hat-trick hero Saeed Salem Al Ruzaiqi after his side’s 5-0 thrashing of Kuwait at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium on Thursday.
Victory fired The Red Warriors to the top of Group B and into the Gulf Cup semi-finals where they will play Qatar on Sunday, but it also catapulted Salem from obscurity into Omani football folklore.
The 27-year-old from Sur was a fourth-choice reserve and only got called into the squad the night before departure, following last-minute injuries to three other players.
In only his second international appearance, he then came on as a late first-half substitute to net a 15-minute hat-trick and hand Oman a shock win over record 10-time champions Kuwait.
Abdul Aziz Muqbali slotted home Ali Busaidi’s through ball for Oman’s opener on 44 minutes. And deep in first-half injury time, Salem tapped in Sa’ad Suhail’s cross for a quick second before the interval.
Suhail then supplied Salem for his second and Oman’s third in a similar one-two after the break, before Muqbali supplied Salim for a tap in to complete his hat-trick just after the hour.
Oman then completed Kuwait’s misery before the whistle when Muqbali headed in Ali Busaidi’s cross.
“He played beautifully today,” Le Guen said of Salem. “It was a very good performance.
“I first noticed him when he was playing for Al Oruba Club in Oman and he was impressive and scoring quite a few goals. So then, we decided to give him a chance.
“Our only aim was to qualify. We never expected to score five goals. This was a pleasant surprise. In football, you have days like this when everything clicks. It was one of those days. We are playing at a good level now and we have to continue to perform this way.
“I am very happy. It is a good step that we have taken, but now we have to focus on the semi-finals.”
Of Sunday’s semi-final against Qatar, he added: “It will be a hard, tough match. They are a very talented team.
“I know their coach [Djamel Belmadi] very well. We used to play together many years ago [at Paris Saint Germain]. I saw their match against Saudi Arabia [1-1] and they were well organised. They have power but we will be ambitious.”
Meanwhile, Kuwait coach Jorvan Vieira was horrified by his team’s performance and subsequent elimination.
“It was a disaster,” he said. “What can I say to apologise to all the Kuwaiti fans? We didn’t play well today. We did nothing.
“The team went down after the second goal was scored. They lost heart and we didn’t react well in the second half. We gave away three goals very quickly and that destroyed the morale of the players.
“Oman deserved the result completely. They played very well. It was a bad day for us. We have to take responsibility for the defeat.”
