FOOTBALL – Bahrain were eliminated from the AGCFF Gulf Cup U-20 2025 last following a tough 1-2 defeat to Egypt in their concluding Group B match in Abha, Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom’s junior men’s football national team were knocked out of the eight-team competition despite taking the lead at Damac FC Stadium with a Khaled Mohammed goal midway through the second half.
But the nationals then conceded twice in the game’s closing stages, including Egypt’s last-gasp winner, scored by Mohamed Hamad in the seventh minute of injury time.
Substitute Hamza Ahmed Selim had earlier netted their equaliser.
The nationals suffered their second narrow loss of the competition to go with one win, while the Egyptians claimed their sole victory but are also exiting the tournament.
Oman and Iraq are through to the semi-finals as the division’s top two teams.
The Omanis, who lost to Bahrain earlier this week, bounced back with a 1-0 win over the Iraqis in last night’s other Group B fixture, which was played simultaneously at Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City stadium.
Oman’s Suleiman Dawood supplied the match winner as both teams finished on six points apiece on the table. Bahrain and Egypt wrapped up their campaign with three points each.
From Group A, hosts Saudi took the top spot, followed by Yemen, who joined them going through to the last four. Kuwait and Qatar are also out of the competition.
The Saudis took first place with seven points from two wins and one draw, while Yemen were the runners-up with six points following two wins and one loss.
Kuwait and Qatar were third and fourth with two and one points, respectively.
The semis are scheduled for Sunday, while the final will then be held on Wednesday next week.
The eight-nation competition is being held for the first time under the umbrella of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF).
In Bahrain’s tough loss yesterday, national team goalkeeper Abdulla Abdo had a fine performance in the match, although was unlucky down the stretch.
He made a number of saves throughout – none bigger than a penalty in the 12th minute attempted by Egypt’s Adham Elsayed.
Their opponents were awarded the spot kick after Hamad was brought down in the box by Bahrain’s Abdulrahman Bassam.
But Abdo was up to the task and made a diving stop to his right.
Later, at the half-hour mark, Abdo made another fine save on a rocket from Basel Yaqout that was on target from around 30 yards out.
The game remained goalless at the break, but in the 72nd minute, the nationals went in front through Mohammed, who scored off a rebound after a shot by teammate Ebrahim Al Muraisi hit the right post, following a brilliant pass by Yahya Adel.
Mohammed was first to the ball, and he slotted home into an empty net.
Egypt, however, broke Bahrain’s hearts late on.
They equalised in the 81st minute with a headed effort by Selim off a free-kick, and then deep into stoppage time, sealed the victory on a quick, two-man counter-attack, with Hamad scoring after brilliantly being set up by teammate Abdelaziz Ibrahim.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))