KUWAIT: Khaleeji Zain 26 kicked off with the opening ceremony with dazzling display of fireworks, which relied on many sound and light effects with the latest international technologies, and many charming artistic paragraphs, which won the approval of everyone.

The first round of the “Khaleeji Zain 26” tournament witnessed two draws in the first round of the group, the first was between Kuwait, the host of the tournament with brotherly Oman which ended in 1-1 draw, while Qatar and UAE also drew at the Jaber Al-Mubarak Stadium in Sulaibiya.

For his part, President of the Asian Football Confederation and First Vice President of FIFA Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa stressed that the high patronage of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is an honor for the Gulf sports family, and an expression of the care and attention that His Highness gives to the sports movement.

Khaleeji is of great importance because it is a great sporting legacy that has contributed to several qualitative shifts for Gulf football at various regional, continental and international levels, and this has extended to the sports infrastructure of the Gulf countries, which has developed significantly, enabling them to host the most prominent international sports events,” he said.

Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa praised the quality of the organization and dazzling opening ceremony of Khaleeji Zain 26. “Kuwait is capable of achieving the highest levels of organizational success in the 26th Gulf Cup because of its national cadres with world-class technical and administrative expertise,” he said, wishing success to all participating teams.

For his part, tournament director Meshal Al-Subaie congratulated everyone on the occasion of the launch of ‘Khaleeji Zain 26’, and said: ”We were honored by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad, at the opening of the tournament, and the good efforts made over the past months culminated in a special review ceremony that won the approval of all.”

Al-Subaie stated that the participation of the Gulf brothers in this distinctive sports, cultural and social gathering is a milestone in “Khaleeji Zain 26”, adding that we will continue to work with the same quality that everyone saw on the first day of the tournament, and we will ensure good organization in its various aspects.

Pizzi: Forced substitutions

The national team coach, Juan Antonio Pizzi, emphasized that the strong start of the Kuwaiti players was not enough to win the points against Oman in the opening match of the “Khaleeji Zain 26” tournament, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Pizzi stated that the draw is not a negative result in the face of the strong Omani team, adding that we made forced substitutions, due to injury, perhaps the first of which was Reda Hani, while Yusuf Nasser was replaced due to his lack of full readiness.

The Kuwait’s national team coach praised the great support of the fans in the opening match, and said: “I hope that the support will continue in the coming matches, as we have important matches against the UAE and Qatar in the next two rounds, during which we hope to provide the best levels to achieve a positive results.”

Jaber: We are suffering from starting games

For his part, Oman coach Rasheed Jaber attributed the 1-1 draw with Kuwait to the nature of the opening matches and their difficulty, especially against the home side, and said: “We suffered from a lack of concentration in the first half, and in the second half we were unable to translate the advantage into goals.”

The Omani coach stated that his team sought to achieve victory, but the result of the match went to a positive draw, adding that I have confidence in all the players to move forward in the “Khaleeji Zain 26” competitions.

Garcia: I wanted to win and we succeeded tactically

Qatari coach Luis Garcia expressed his satisfaction with the result of his team’s match with the UAE, which ended in a 1-1 draw in the first round of Group A of the “Khaleeji Zain 26” tournament, and said: “I wished to get the three points, but we came out with a sufficiently satisfactory draw.”

He stated that the Qatari team presented a distinguished first half, adding that we succeeded in imposing our tactical style in the first half of the game; which enabled the team to score the first goal, and we were very close to adding a second goal, but luck was not on our side.

Garcia pointed out that the technical staff will start working to address the negatives that appeared in the first match of Qatar the “Khaleeji Zain 26”, to ensure that they are not repeated, and to improve the technical quality of the team through good preparation for meeting the Omani team in the second round.

Pinto: We deserved a better result

UAE coach Paulo Pinto said that his team could have come out with a better result than the 1-1 draw with Qatar in their match in the first round of Group A of the “Khaleeji Zain 26” tournament.

“The level of the Qatari team is very different from the last two matches between the two teams in the World Cup qualifiers, as we played against a very good team that has its own philosophy,” Pinto said.

Pinto pointed out that his team could have achieved more than a point after controlling most of the match, adding that our start was not as required, but over time we succeeded in holding the reins and controlling the midfield.