(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) His dive to the right to thwart UAE's Omar Abdulrahman's 'Amoori' spot kick in the dying minutes of the match revived Oman's chances in the final.
And nearly 40 minutes later, Faiz al Rusheidi's leap of glory to his left denied Amoori, a former Asian Player of the Year, once again, as he stopped the fifth spot kick to give Oman its second Gulf Cup title at the Jaber al Ahmad International Stadium on Friday night.
The second penalty save of the night by Rusheidi gave Oman a 5-4 win in the shootout after both the teams failed to break the deadlock in regulation and extra-time.
And on a cold night amid a capacity crowd, a new hero for Oman emerged out of the shadows of legendary Ali al Habsi as Rusheidi stood tall in the shoot-out, similar to the way Oman had won its maiden title in Muscat in 2009 when it edged past Saudi Arabia 6-5 on penalties.
It was Habsi's heroics then, and on Friday, Rusheidi's robust performance under the bar stood out as Pim Verbeek's Red
Warriors sparked celebrations inside the stadium and across Oman. The win was also a sweet revenge for Oman, which had lost the final to the UAE in 2007 and also suffered a 0-1 loss in the opening match of this edition.
Oman was the better team in the final and created far more goal-scoring opportunities. In the shootout, Abdulaziz al Miqbali, Saad Suhail, captain Ahmed Mubarak 'Kanu' Said al Ruzaiqi 'Shalhoub' and Mohsin Jawhar were on target.
For the UAE, Ali Mabkhout, Ahmed Barman, Ismael Ahmed and Mohammed al Menhali scored before Rusheidi denied Amoori. Despite not conceding a single goal throughout the tournament, Italian Alberto Zaccheroni's UAE could not repeat its semifinal penalty-shootout win over Iraq.
Though the first quarter of an hour saw little in way of goal-scoring opportunities, it was the Omanis who came close first when captain Kanu headed into the goalkeeper's arms from Jawhar's corner-kick.
The Whites responded through Ahmed Khalil who latched onto a long pass from Ali Salmin to control and fire from a tight angle, but his effort ended in the wrong side of the Omani net. Amoori's attempted through pass was deflected off an Omani defender and into the path of Mabkhout whose powerful striker from the edge of the area was tipped over by Rusheidi.
The Reds came as close as anyone to end the UAE's run of six clean sheets under its Italian boss when winger Jameel al Yahmadi went on a slaloming run as he got his way past three players before firing from a tight angle. His shot skimmed the upright and went behind for a goal kick as the teams went into the break level.
A goalless first half was followed by a thrilling second as Oman came out of the blocks racing with Yahmadi hitting the upright after a solo run from the right flank.
UAE goalkeeper Khaled Eisa was superb as he produced a string of saves in the final 15 minutes, denying Jawhar, then diving low to rescue Khaled al Hajri's header from close distance. The UAE was handed a golden opportunity to repeat its group stage win over Oman when the Kuwaiti referee, Ali Mahmood, awarded it a late penalty after Mabkhout was brought down inside the box by defender Mohammed alMussalami. Amoori stepped up but Rusheidi dived in the right direction to save and take the match into extra-time.
The extra half-hour produced no news as Eisa made a superb save to deny Jawhar whose free-kick was headed into the top corner in the final minute to take his side into penalties.
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