Muscat: Iraq’s Hassan AbdulKarim netted the equalizer in the dying minutes to spoil Oman’s almost certain victory chances as the exciting Group A fixture ended in a 1-1 draw in the opening encounter at the 2021 Fifa Arab Cup on Tuesday.
At Al Janoub Stadium, Salah al Yahyaei put 'Red Warriors' ahead in the 78th minute from a penalty while Iraq’s Hassan AbdulKarim netted the equalizer in the 96th minute from penalty after the first penalty which was saved by Oman goalkeeper Ahmed al Rawahi was declared invalid due to Rawahi’s movement before the penalty was taken.
Iraq team played with ten players from the 69th minute after Yasser Qasim received a second yellow card.
The head coach Branko Ivankovic began the match with starting line up featured from Ahmed al Rawahi as goalkeeper. Ahmed al Kaabi, Juma al Habsi, Ahmed al Khamisi, Amjad al Harthi in the defense.
Mohsin Jawher, Jameel al Yahmadi, Harib al Saadi and Salah al Yahyaei were in the midfield and Mohsin al Ghassani (Khalid al Hajri) and Mundher al Alawi were in the forward line.
The first actual attempt from the national team came in the 17th minute as Ahmed al Kabbi crossed a ball to Al Mundhar al Alawi who tried to convert into goal but it was saved by Iraq’s goalkeeper Fahad Talib.
Later, the opponent Iraqi players dominated and pressed hard searching for the opening goal. Mohammed Qasim was close to score the first goal for Iraq as he sent a long range shot that hit the crossbar in the 21st minute.
After half an hour, Iraq’s players were still searching for the opening goal and Ahmed Farhan missed a scoring attempt as his shot was saved by Ahmed al Rawahi in the 32nd minute. Six minutes later, Alaa Abbas was in perfect position inside the box and continued a ball which went beside the crossbar.
In the following half, Coach Brankovic's battalion showed a better performance and started to create different attacking shots to score the first goal in the match.
In 69th minute, Yasser Qasim received a second yellow card after his tough interface with Harib al Saadi.
Coach Brankovic's men took the advantage of Iraq’s missing player and pressed hard to find the net. The referee Martiniz Said decided a penalty for the national team in the 76th minute after Iraq’s Hassan Raed struggled Amjad al Harthi in the box.
Salah al Yahyaei converted the penalty successfully into a goal in the 78th minute. In the dying minutes, Hassan AbdulKarim netted the equalizer in the dying minutes to snatch vital one point from the opening fixture in the group matches.
Salah was awarded the player of the match award.
Photos by Oman Football Association (OFA)
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