KUWAIT: Bahrain qualified for the semi-finals of the Khaleeji Zain 26 after beating Iraq 2-0, in the second round of the second group of the tournament, on Wednesday evening. Bahrain topped the group table with 6 points, while Iraq’s score froze at 3 points in third place.

The start of the match came quickly from both sides, looking to snatch an early goal to confuse the opponent’s accounts. Mahdi Abdul-Jabbar missed a great chance for Bahrain in the ninth minute after he was completely alone in front of goal, but he shot over the crossbar.

Iraq responded quickly with a shot from Ahmed Yassin that was well saved by the Bahrain goalkeeper. The Iraqi national team controlled the center of the field as time passed and tried to penetrate the solid Bahraini defense through its star player Ali Jassim, while Bahrain’s quick counterattacks posed a great inconvenience to the Iraqi defenses.

Mohammed Marhoon tried to surprise the Iraqi team with a shot from inside the box, but it went wide of the goal in the 30th minute. In the 38th minute, Ali Meden scored the first goal for Bahrain after an assist from Mohammed Marhoon, and the first half ended with Bahrain leading by one goal.

Bahrain did not give its Iraqi counterpart a chance to regain its balance and surprised it one minute after the start of the second half with the second goal through the brilliant Ali Meden, who followed up on the rebound of the ball from the Iraqi keeper.

In the 56th minute, Iraqi striker Ayman Hussein almost reduced the deficit, but Bahrain goalkeeper Ibrahim Lutfallah saved his close-range shot. The Bahrain goalkeeper continued his brilliance and saved a solo shot by Iraqi striker Muhannad Ali in the 61st minute.

Iraq pressed hard to get back into the game and Zaid Tahsin hit a header that went over the Bahraini goalkeeper’s crossbar.

Iraq’s attempts continued in the face of Bahrain’s solid defense, and Ayman Hassan’s header went over the crossbar in a dangerous chance in the 81st minute. In the 84th minute, the Bahraini team managed to score after a great counterattack, but the referee canceled the goal for offside.

Bahrain’s defense continued to shine in the remaining minutes and kept a clean sheet against the Iraqi attacks to end the game with a clean sheet.