(MENAFN- Arab Times) It was the shot seen around the world, Kuwait's golden boy Faisal Al Dakhil unleashing an unstoppable shot past Czechoslovakian keeper Zdenek Hruska to cancel out a lead from a penalty by none other than Antonin Panenka to earn a 1-1 draw. The Asian champions had announced themselves at the 1982 World Cup in Spain in stunning style.
That was as good as it got for Kuwait's fabled "Golden Generation". The euphoria of that memory in Valladolid lasted only a few days. A 4-1 defeat to France was followed by a 1-0 loss to England as perhaps the Arabian Gulf's greatest team exited the tournament ignominiously.
As the current squad resume their joint qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup against Myanmar on Thursday, it seems hard to believe that a nation now ranked 126th in the world once ruled the continent.
June's 1-0 win over Lebanon was welcome, but it will take far more that to convince supporters that their national team is anything but an irrelevance at international level.
So just what went wrong with Kuwaiti football? The Gulf War in 1990 is a watershed moment after which Kuwaiti football never recovered its former glory.
And what glory it was.
Between 1970 and 1982 Kuwait won the Gulf Cup of Nations five times out of six, claimed an Asian Cup on home soil in 1980 and took part in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, as well as the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
There was a perfect marriage of a sublime group of players; colourful, loyal and knowledgeable supporters; and a forward-looking football association.
Jassem Yaqoub, Abdulaziz Al Anbari, Hamad Abu Hamad, Fathi Kameel, goalkeeper Ahmad Tarabulsi, captain Saad Al Houti and Al Dakhil. Under Brazilian coaches Mario Zagalo (1976-78) and Carlos Alberto Parreira (1978-82), the boys in blue transcended football fame to become national heroes, and politicians and celebrities lined up to heap praise on them.
Al Dakhil earned the nickname of "the King" from Sheikh Fahad Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, the head of the Kuwaiti FA, and "the Hurricane" from the country's most renowned actor, Abdulhussain Abdulredha. Yacoub was "the Terroriser"; Kameel "the Gazelle". - NatSportUAE
t year's Gulf Cup in Riyadh, Al Houti painted a grim picture.
"There's no real interest in the national team," he said. "The training camps are poor, preparations are few and short-lived. The odd two weeks are not enough to create harmony between the players. The fitness levels of the current generation is inadequate and I see the national team is lacking in skill, mentality and support. There are no long-term plans that are being implemented."
No Kuwaiti club has been seen in the Asian Champions League group stage since 2008, when Al Qadisiya progressed to the quarter-finals before losing to Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan.
The last year has been particularly harrowing. A woeful showing in the 2014 Gulf Cup in Saudi Arabia was capped by a 5-0 thrashing by Oman, a low point in Kuwait's football history.
At January's Asian Cup in Australia, they lost all three group matches to Australia, South Korea and Oman respectively.
"In our day, everyone worked hard without asking for anything in return," Yaqoub told the defunct Al Watan TV last year. "The players didn't think of earnings. Coaches gave everything and were not greedy, the fans enjoyed what the team gave. Now, players and management want to know what's in it for themselves. Before it was about giving, not taking."
Wins against Myanmar and Laos over the next week might get fans on board again. But few of them will be foolish enough to predict a return to former glories any time soon. - NatSportUAE
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.