The Arab Cup .. Iraq embraces Bahrain and awaits a decisive round of qualification
On Friday, a disappointing negative tie decided the confrontation of Iraq and Bahrain at Al Thumama Stadium, one of the stadiums of the 2022 World Cup, in the second round of the first group competitions of the Arab Cup in Doha.
With this result, Iraq raised its score to two points after it started its participation in the tournament with a 1-1 draw against the Sultanate of Oman, which will meet later today with Qatar, compared to one point for Bahrain, which fell to the hosts with a clean opening goal.
This is Bahrain's third draw against Iraq, led by Portuguese Heliwa Sousa, who won two victories over the "Lions of Mesopotamia".
The Bahraini team began the match with a quick performance and early offensive attempts to reach Iraq's goal, due to which the latter's players were forced to retreat and secure tight defensive coverage in the face of those attempts.
Bahrain almost took the lead in the 15th minute, had it not been for Ismail Abdel Latif's slowness in shooting a ball that Sherko Karim left at the right moment.
The first Iraqi chance came through Amjad Atwan with a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, embraced by Bahraini goalkeeper Sayed Jaafar (23), followed by Bashar Rasan's shot to find Jaafar on the lookout (27).
In the second half of the first half, the performance and style of the Iraqi team improved and its offensive attempts led by Muhammad Qassem became active on more than one occasion, most notably a strong ground shot by striker Alaa Abbas, who stood in the face of Jaafar and excelled in addressing it in the 31st minute.
In the majority of the first half minutes, the team adopted "The Lions of Mesopotamia" to shoot from long distances to surprise goalkeeper Jaafar, while the Bahraini team continued to rely on building attacks with a long breath that collided with the defensive control that Manaf Younis ensured.
The second half witnessed an offensive debate between the two teams, and Iraq started it in the 46th minute through a ground ball that striker Alaa Abbas snatched from among the Bahrain defenders and surprised goalkeeper Jaafar, who saved the ball, but it rebounded towards the goal before his colleague Walid Al-Hayam removed it at the right moment.
And in the 63rd minute, on a counterattack, the Iraqi goalkeeper Fahd Talib kicked a cross that he extracted from between the feet of Bahraini Mohammed Marhoon on the goal line.
The Iraqi team again imposed its dominance over the events of the last quarter-hour meeting, thanks to its technical and physical superiority compared to the Bahraini team, whose attacks became poor.
And in the 83rd minute, Bahraini defender Rashid Al-Houti intervened, and the farthest ball was on its way to France Boutros, who was single at the last minute.
On the other hand, Mudon responded with a powerful shot that the Iraqi goalkeeper Talib threw, and he narrowly distanced her from the position of a bird in the 89th minute.
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