(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) It was only on Thursday that the entire nation erupted in joy and celebrated till late into the night as Oman stormed into the semifinals of the 22nd Gulf Cup with an emphatic 5-0 thumping of Kuwait in a must-win game.
On Sunday evening that festive spirit fizzled out following Oman's 1-3 loss at the hands of a gutsy Qatar which rallied from a goal down at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh Saudi Arabia to enter the final.
Qatar's Ali Assadalla (right) celebrates after scoring against Oman during the Gulf Cup semifinal in Riyadh Saudi Arabia (AFP)
A brace from Ali Assadalla fired Qatar into Wednesday's title showdown where the two-time champion will face Saudi Arabia.
The hosts edged past UAE 3-2 in the other semifinal later at the same venue. Saudi Arabia led 2-0 at half-time.
Oman now plays UAE for the third place on Tuesday.
Earlier in the game Raeed Ibrahim gave Oman a reason to celebrate when the midfielder scored a cracking goal from a volley past Qatar goalkeeper Qasim Burhan in the 24th minute.
A focused Qatar then drew level in the 36th minute before second-half substitute Assadalla tapped in from two rebounds off the post in the 59th and 67th minutes.
The match began at a frenetic pace with Qatar going into the attack with striker Meshaal Abdullah sending in two early crosses in front of goal before Ismail Mohammad's cross to Hassan al Haydos was palmed away by Oman goalkeeper Ali al Habsi.
Oman soon took the lead when an opportunistic Raeed Ibrahim made the most of the situation after Ali al Busaidi's free-kick was headed back into play by Qatar's Abdullah.
Coach Paul Le Guen and his team were left to rue a costly miss on the half-hour mark when Mohammed al Siyabi set up Abdulaziz al Miqbali but the latter chipped the ball over the bar from just six yards with the Qatari keeper down on the ground.
Qatar's Haydos equalised from the spot on 36 minutes when Abdullah was brought down in the box by a charging Habsi.
Shortly after the half-time break Mohammad ran onto a long ball and scored for Qatar only to find that it was ruled off-side. It did not take long for Qatar to take the 2-1 lead though as Mohammad's attempt on goal came back off the post and Assadalla followed it up with a smart tap-in.
Later Abdullah darted into the box chasing a long ball rounded an advancing Habsi and struck the post before Assadalla once again pounced on the rebound and gave his team an unassailable 3-1 lead.
Qatar won the Gulf Cup twice in 1992 and 2004 and has finished runner-up on four occasions. For Oman the prestigious trophy remains elusive since its title win at home in 2009.
Though Le Guen could take heart from his team's spectacular entry into the semifinals with the hammering of ten-time champion Kuwait a lot more was expected from the Red Warriors this time round following exits from the group stages in the previous two editions in Bahrain and Yemen.
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