OMAN REVEL IN CISM WORLD CUP GLORY
By Anuroop Athiparambath — MUSCAT: Jan 29 - For the first time, a trophy was set up for the CISM World Cup. The trophy, which has Omani dagger (Khanjar) holding the football with global map on it, is in true sense depicting the Omani tradition. The Oman team, deservedly, won the title on Saturday night and the trophy will remain at its home.
After a tense match, it was the hosts who had the final hurrah when Mohsin Jawhar al Khawaldi fired in the fourth penalty kick to trigger wild celebration at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.
Qatar, who had tightened their defence throughout the match, could not survive the pressure in the penalty shoot-out.
The capacity crowd at the stadium, who vociferously supported every move of Oman throughout the 120 minutes, thundered when Saud Khamis al Farsi cleanly scored from the opening penalty.
Moreira Jean also made no mistake for Qatar in their first kick.
Jameel Darwish al Yahmadi, continued the scoring for Oman, as pressure was now on Qatar’s Dasilva Michel, who had got a yellow card in the match for a rough tackle on Jameel Darwish.
Dasilva’s shot flew above the bar as the crowd cheered loudly.
Saad Suhail added more colour to the ‘shoot-out party’ as the crowd were on their feet.
Qatar’s Ngom Abdoulakhad hit his shot in similar fashion as Dasilva and the same was the outcome, over the bar under a watchful Oman goalkeeper Faiz al Rusheidi.
Faiz, who was the match winner for Oman in the thrilling semifinal against Egypt, was fittingly selected as the best goalkeeper of the second CISM World Cup.
The Omani goalkeeper had saved two kicks by Egypt in the tie-breaker.
General Sultan bin Mohammed al Numani, Minister of the Royal Office, handed over the World Cup to the Oman team as celebrations began in the streets.
Colonel Abdulhaleem Alshino, CISM President, and other army dignitaries were also present.
During the match, Qatar defence tightly marked Oman’s star striker Abdulaziz al Maqbali as goals were hard to come.
Though, Oman had their chances. Saud Farsi could not apply good strength on his shot with only Qatar goalkeeper in front. The weak shot was saved by Qatar keeper Bamba Adamba in the 115th minute.
Adamba, who twice took medical help for muscle cramps, also received a yellow card when he did it for the second time.
Another fine chance that came the way of Oman was in the 58th minute. But Saad Suhail’s firm shot hit the side post.
Qatar’s best chance was thwarted by Oman goalkeeper Faiz al Rusheidi in the 26th minute. Mohamud Hassan’s grounder was kept away from the goal by a diving Faiz.
In the 38th minute, Qasim Said, who had otherwise a quite match, was off target by few inches with his carpet drive.
Finally, it was a dream fulfilled by the Oman team, coached by Mohanna Said al Adawi. In the first edition of CISM World Cup in Baku, Uzbekistan, Oman had finished runners-up behind winners Iraq in 2013.
Awards: Best Player: Abdoullah al Haddad (Qatar), Best goalkeeper: Faiz al Rusheidi (Oman), Top-scorer: Mohamed Wakad (Syria), Fair play: Mali
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