Mutasim Abdullah (Dubai)
The early farewell to the Saudi Olympic team from the first round of the “Gulf 25” competitions currently being held in the Iraqi city of Basra deprived Saad Al-Shehri, the “Young Green” coach, from joining the list of national coaches who led their countries’ teams to crown the Gulf title, the last of which was Mahdi Ali, who led the “White” To win the Gulf 21 edition in Bahrain in 2013.
The “Young Green”, led by Saad Al-Shehri as the only national coach among the participating teams, ended his career in the “Gulf 25” competitions, losing to Oman 1-2 at Al-Minaa Stadium in Basra, in the third and final round of the first group competitions in the Gulf Cup “Gulf 25”. in Iraq.
Al-Akhdar ranked third with 3 points in the standings of the group led by Iraq with 7 points, on goal difference against Oman, while Yemen’s balance remained empty of points, as Iraq and Oman qualified for the semi-finals.
Al-Shehri, who was crowned with the current team the AFC U-23 Cup title, and the West Asian title for the same category in 2022, in addition to leading the Saudi Olympic team to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, wished himself to perform better in the “Gulf 25” and compete for the title.
Al-Shehri said in his speech after the loss against Oman: “We came to participate in this generation of players, and we played a great match, and we hoped to continue.” In Iraq, it was successful by all standards.
The list of honors in the national coach’s record of success in the Gulf Cup tournaments includes the names of 5 coaches, starting with the late Ammo Baba, who led Iraq to win the Gulf title in three occasions, beginning with “Gulf 5”, which was hosted by Iraq in 1979, and “Gulf 7”. In Oman 1984, and “Gulf 9 in Saudi Arabia” 1988, which is the last achievement recorded in the name of Iraq.
Kuwaiti Saleh Zakaria joined the list, led by Al-Azraq, to crown the title in “Gulf 8” in Bahrain 1986, followed by the Saudi “duo” Muhammad Al-Kharashi with “Al-Akhdar” in “Gulf 12” in the Emirates 1994, and Nasser Al-Johar in “Gulf 15” in Saudi Arabia 2002, and finally Mahdi Ali with the Emirates in 2013.
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