Agencies/TNN
Basra (Iraq)
Iraq clinched the Arabian Gulf Cup for the fourth time in their history after a dramatic 3-2 win over Oman in the final at the Basra International Stadium on Thursday.
In front of raucous home fans, Ibrahim Bayesh gave Iraq the lead in the 24th minute. The Lions of Mesopotamia were seconds away from victory in normal time but Oman pulled level in the 10th minute of added time through Salah Al Yahyaei’s penalty. In the extra time, Iran regained the lead in the 116th minute after Ajmad Attwan converted a penalty.
Oman again fought back brilliantly to draw level in the 119th minute through Omar Al Malki. The thriller looked destined to go into penalty shootout, but Manaf Younis’ header with a minute remaining to send the host nation into raptures.
Iraq, which hosted the 25th edition of the tournament after 44 years when it hosted the inaugural edition in 1979, secured their first regional title in 35 years.
Their previous titles came in 1979, 1984 and 1988.
However, the celebrations were overshadowed by a stampede which broke out outside the stadium hours before the final, with one person killed and dozens injured.
Long banned from hosting international football matches, war-torn Iraq had been counting on the Gulf Cup to burnish its image but it had already been forced to apologise for organisational lapses. Thousands of fans, many without tickets, had gathered outside the 65,000-seat stadium in Iraq’s main southern city of Basra since dawn in the hope of watching the final.
“A large number of fans, many of them without tickets, had gathered since first light to try to get in,” an interior ministry official said.
An AFP photographer inside the stadium said the turnstiles were still closed when the crush occurred. Sirens blared as ambulances arrived to ferry the injured to hospital. Images posted on social media showed a sea of people outside the stadium.
Fans began arriving again in the afternoon as calm was restored to Basra International Stadium, said interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan. The gates were closed after fans entered the arena, many of them waving Iraqi flags ahead of the match.
The army called on fans to heed the instructions of security force personnel on access to the stadium so the championship could be “wrapped up in a civilised fashion that does honour to Iraq”.
Prime Minister Mohamed Shia Al Sudani had earlier chaired a meeting with key ministers and the governor of Basra to discuss “special measures for the Gulf Cup final”, his office said.
Football is by far Iraq’s biggest spectator sport and the rare opportunity to see home international games has drawn thousands of fans.
The tournament had also attracted thousands of foreign fans who crossed from neighbouring Kuwait to see the games in Basra, little more than 50 kilometres from the border.
