Khaberni - Ibrahim Al-Rajhi, Oman's goalkeeper, saved the seasoned Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz from embarrassment, leading his national team to a victory over Somalia by penalty shootouts 4-1 (original time 0-0), on Wednesday in Doha in the play-off qualifying for the 2025 Arab Cup of football.
Oman, qualifying for the finals for the second time in its history after 2021, will play in Group B alongside Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the winner of the Yemen and Comoros match to be held later.
Queiroz (72 years) had Al-Rajhi replace Ibrahim Al-Mukhaini just a minute before the end of the additional time estimated at seven minutes. Al-Rajhi, the goalkeeper from Al-Nasr, lived up to his coach's expectations, saving two penalty shots hit by Zakaria Hassan and Ali Musa out of three for Somalia, while Oman succeeded in scoring all its four shots.
Oman partly compensated for its failure in the Asian play-off (fourth round) qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, after tying with Qatar 0-0 and losing to the UAE 1-2.
On the other hand, Somalia, ranked 200th globally and which had its last official win on December 13, 2019, against Burundi (1-0), was aspiring to its first qualification in the history of the Arab Cup, but it failed for the second time against Oman, which had also defeated it 2-1 in the play-off of the 2021 edition.
- Bahrain surpasses Djibouti -
The Bahrain national team reached the finals after defeating Djibouti 1-0 at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium at Al Sadd Club.
Mohammed Al-Rumaihi (36) scored the match's only goal, which saw Djiboutian Ahmed Zakaria dismissed for receiving a second yellow card (41).
With this victory, Bahrain secured its spot in the finals and will compete in Group D comprising Algeria, the title-holder, Iraq, alongside the winner of the Sudan vs. Lebanon match to be held later.
Bahrain controlled the ball in midfield during the first fifteen minutes, through Ali Madan, Kamil Al-Aswad, and Sayed Dia Saeed, without any significant offensive attempts against Djibouti's goalkeeper Mukhtar Youssef.
In contrast, Mauritania played a zonal defense strategy, relying on counterattacks through Moaz Mohammed on the right side and exploiting poor defensive coverage on the left side of Bahrain.
Bahrain's pressure on Djibouti's goal resulted in an opening score by Mohammed Al-Rumaihi following a cross from Mohammed Marhoon inside the penalty area, reaching goalkeeper Youssef who failed to catch the ball, allowing Al-Rumaihi to play it into the goal (36).
Shortly before the end of the first half, Djibouti was reduced to ten men after the defender Ahmed Zakaria received a red card for striking Bahrain player Mehdi Abdul-Jabbar off the ball (41).
Sudan, Lebanon, Yemen, and Comoros will play later to secure the last two tickets to the finals.
