An Emirati achievement in the Arab Cup.. White wins the semi-final ticket for the first time

The national football team reached the semi-finals of the Arab Cup for the first time in its history, after defeating its Algerian counterpart on penalty kicks 7-6, in the match that brought them together on Friday evening in the quarter-finals, after the end of regular and extra time in a 1-1 draw.

The national team gave a mixed performance against Algeria. He appeared modestly in the first half without any clear offensive teeth, focusing only on the defensive aspect to keep the net clean.
Despite the wide spaces behind the “Greens” defense, the white players were unable to exploit them, while the preparation in the midfield seemed confused, which led to losing the ball on more than one occasion, and committing repeated mistakes that benefited the Algerian team, which managed to reach the net more than once, before the goals were canceled due to offside.

In the second half, the goal scored by Adel Boulbena for Algeria, after following up on Yacine Brahimi’s shot rebounding from the hand of goalkeeper Hamad Al-Muqbali, constituted a major turning point in the performance of the national team, which abandoned its defensive caution and began to pose an offensive threat.
One of the attempts almost gave Al-Abyad the equalizer, after a cross from Rubin was mistakenly deflected by defender Ashraf Abada towards his own goal, but the vigilance of goalkeeper Farid Shaal prevented the ball from entering the net.

Al-Abyad succeeded in implementing the first real attack against Algeria’s goal, after Yahya Al-Ghassani sent a perfect cross, which was prepared for Bruno de Oliveira, who confidently put it into the goal, scoring the equalizer in the 64th minute.

The UAE team sought to maintain its cohesion after the draw, while the Algerian team continued its pressure in an attempt to regain control. However, the change made by Romanian coach Olario Cosmin, by fielding Issam Fayez instead of Yahya Nader, restored balance to the midfield, and deprived Algeria of easy access to Al-Meqbali’s goal until the 75th minute.

Adel Boulbena almost restored the lead for the “Greens” by taking advantage of a joint defensive error between Sasha and Pimenta, when he received a cross while facing the goal, but he shot over the crossbar in the 78th minute.
On the other hand, Caio Lucas led a counterattack, evading more than one player, before the Algerian defense intervened and pushed the ball away to a corner that was not exploited.

Al-Abyad missed a chance to snatch victory before the end of regular time, after a powerful header from Pimenta in the 88th minute, which was skillfully blocked by goalkeeper Shaal.

Arbitration controversy at the last minute

Jordanian referee Adham Makhadma sparked widespread controversy in stoppage time after ignoring the awarding of a clear penalty kick to the national team, after Algerian defender Ashraf Abada cleared the ball with his hand inside the penalty area.

For his part, former Bahraini international referee Nawaf Shukrallah confirmed the validity of the decision to demand the penalty kick in televised statements, explaining that the ball directly touched the Algerian defender’s hand without hitting any other part of his body, which stopped the continuation of a promising Al-Abyad attack inside the region.
Shukrallah expressed his surprise that the referee did not resort to video technology (VAR) to review the situation, stressing that there is no legal text that prevents making a decisive decision – even in the last moments – if the situation requires technical intervention.