Iraq’s early exit from Khaleeji 19 unexpected – Arab journalists

MUSCAT / IraqiNews.com: A number of journalists who were in the Omani capital Muscat to cover the Gulf Cup of Nations (Khaleeji 19) agreed that the Iraqi football squad’s early exit from the tournament was “unexpected.” “Everyone expected Iraq to reach the semi-final’s stage now that it has recently participated in the Norway International Tournament and conducted a training camp in Dubai. However, it seems that Coach Vieira did not deal with the two games Iraq played in a correct manner,” journalist Mohammed Oun from the Bahraini newspaper al-Wasat told IraqiNews.com news agency. He said Iraq’s coach should have taken the team’s captain Younes Mahmoud, who was not well prepared for the match, out after the first red card for Iraq was shown to Haytham Kadhem during the Bahrain game. “The players had zero morale and were nervous, which caused them to commit many errors and entailed unjustifiable red cards,” said Oun. Iraq lost its first game in the tournament 1/3 to Bahrain, followed by even a crueler defeat of 0/4 to host Oman. Al-Arabi Mahmoudi of the Qatari newspaper al-Arab said reliance on certain names and focus on professional players has led to these unexpected results for Iraq, a team with good history in this tournament as it has won this cup three times. “Press reports pointed out that there were problems with the team, including the lack of harmony among the players,” Mahmoudi told IraqiNews.com news agency, holding the coach Vieira responsible for pushing Younes Mahmoud into the game while he was not ready for it. Journalist Ahmed al-Zarwi from the Saudi newspaper al-Riyadi said the stakes were high about Iraq’s accession to the semi-final stage with host Oman. The Gulf Cup is a soccer tournament held every two years. It is a tournament for the Arab countries around the Gulf. It is also known as Khaleeji. The Gulf Cup was founded at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico by Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The First Gulf Cup tournament took place in Bahrain and was won by Kuwait. The 2007 Gulf Cup of Nations, the 18th edition, took place between January 17 and January 30, 2007 in the United Arab Emirates. The tournament was won by the UAE, which beat Oman 1/0 in the final. AmR (S)/SR 1