Arabian Gulf Cup hosts Iraq sink Saudi Arabia in torrential rain with 2-0 win

BASRA: Iraq defeated Saudi Arabia 2-0 on Monday evening at an almost flooded Basra International Stadium to go top of Group A after two games in the 25th edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup. Despite conditions that bordered on the farcical, Ibrahim Bayesh’s first half goal put the hosts in control Aso Rostam sealed the win just before the end.

It means that in the final round of games in the group on Thursday, a point for Iraq against Yemen will be enough while Saudi Arabia will likely have to beat Oman to progress. With the Green Falcons fielding a young and inexperienced team against the full-strength hosts, it was always going to be a tough task but not many from either side will have played in conditions such as this.

Torrential rain made the game almost unplayable for both teams and it didn’t help that Oman and Yemen had played on the same surface earlier in the day. Running with the ball was almost impossible and it was only with long passes that the players could make any headway. Any attempts to play short balls to feet failed more often than not.

It also meant a lot of sliding and players bringing down opponents on long follow-throughs with Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi, the busier of the two, earning the ire of the home crowd on more than one occasion.

The home fans were dancing in the rain on the half hour mark however. Raed Al-Ghamdi rose in the air to head an Iraqi corner from the right clear but it went only as far as Bayesh. Standing near the penalty spot, the Al Quwa Al Jawiya star had time to pick his spot and fired the ball into the bottom left corner of the Saudi Arabian goal with Al-Aqidi left unsighted.

Ten minutes later, the goalkeeper got down well at the same post to beat out a fierce