Caitlin Dillon
In their final group stage fixture of the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup, Yemen played out a goalless 0-0 draw with an Iraq squad reduced to ten men at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.
Having topped group A with their 2-0 victory against the UAE in the previous round, the pressure was off for the Iraqi side. Despite being unable to qualify for the semi-finals, having lost their first match against the UAE 3-0, before losing to host country Qatar 6-0, the referee denied Yemen the chance their first-ever Gulf Cup victory, following a VAR decision.
Just eight minutes into the match, Iraq were reduced to ten men, when Mustafa Mohammad Jaber got struck with a red card after a blatant studs-up foul caught Yemen’s Ayman Al-Hagri in the face. This pivotal point in the game changed everything for Yemen, who played out the remainder of the match with majority possession. Despite this, the Yemeni’s only successful shot on target was their 58th minute disallowed goal.
Srecko Katanec may have been attempting to preserve his squad’s energy ahead of Thursday night’s semi-finals, however Yemen put on a performance to be proud of, having held Iraq to a draw for the first time in their Gulf Cup history.