Late drama as Iraq seal Gulf Cup title in match marred by crush death of at least 1 fan

BASRA: Iraq defeated Oman 3-2 on Thursday to lift the Arabian Gulf Cup for the first time since 1988, but the match was marred by a crush in the crowd before kickoff that resulted in the death of at least one supporter.

More than 60,000 were in the arena for the clash, and the crush as fans entered the stadium was also responsible for injuring dozens of others.

Ibrahim Bayesh put the hosts ahead in the first half, and the game was drifting towards full time when, with eight minutes remaining, the drama on the pitch began.

Jameel Al-Yahmadi saw his penalty saved by Iraqi goalkeeper Jalal Hachim and it looked like Oman’s chance had gone. But in the eighth minute of added time, Salaah Al-Yahyaei had another chance from the spot and this time there were no mistakes to force extra time.

After 116 minutes, Amjad Attwan scored another penalty to restore Iraq’s lead, only for Omar Al-Malki to head home another equalizer for Oman.

Iraq were not to be denied, though, and Manaf Younis bagged the winner in the 122nd minute of the encounter.

The whole of Iraq got behind the team coached by Jesus Casas. His eventual goal is to introduce a little Spanish style into the play of the 2007 Asian champions. There may not have been much evidence of that in the final, but no one will care if he brings such excitement to the side.

Oman almost took the lead early on from a brilliant solo effort from Al-Yahyaei. The Al-Seeb playmaker collected the ball on the halfway line, cut inside the area from the left while passing three defenders, and his curling shot was pushed away acrobatically by Hachim.

The home team took the lead midway through the first half. Oman failed to clear a throw-in from the right and Bayesh, one of the players of