MANAMA — Kuwait began its campaign in the Gulf Cup Soccer Tournament with twin late strikes in 19 minutes in the Group B game against Yemen at the Khalifa Sports City Stadium on Sunday. Kuwait scored in the 63rd and the 82nd minutes to record a 2-0 victory against a resolute Yemen, which held Kuwait scoreless till the break. With the flow of game being indeterminate soon after the interval, Kuwait looked to rue the missed penalty of Badr Al-Mutawa in the 11th minute. But Al-Mutawa did make amends later. His 82nd minute goal rounded off the Kuwait winning score after Yousef Nasser Al Salman had hit true in the 63rd for the first. Three people were flashed the yellow cards. Yemen's Ahmed Sadeq (10th) and Kuwait's Al-Salman (11th) and Waleed Ali Jumha (56th) were penalized for robust play in a scrappy encounter. In the second Group B match on Sunday, Iraq struck on the either side of the half to beat Saudi Arabia 2-0. In a robust encounter, Iraq took the lead in the 18th minute with a Salam Shakir Ali goal and that was doubled by a 72nd minute own goal by Osama Haousawi. Six players were flashed the yellow card with the Kingdom's Salem Al-Dossari and Osama Al-Harbi both shown cards in the 45th minute. Iraq's Younus Khalaf too was a recipient of the yellow in the 45th minute, and the referee later booked Iraqis Ala Abdul-Zahra, (53rd), Noor Sabri (75th) and Ali Adnan (88th) with both sides becoming a wee bit physical. On Saturday, the United Arab Emirates got off to a 3-1 winning start over neighboring Qatar in Group A while Bahrain played to a scoreless draw against Oman kin the other group clash. Qatar scored in the 11th minute when Khalfan Ibrahim slotted home a penalty. But the UAE answered two minutes later, when Omar Abdulrahman drew his side level. The UAE took the lead in the 28th through Ali Mabkhout, and Mohamed Ahmad Gharib put the result beyond doubt with a goal in the 66th for the 2007 champion. Four Qatari players — Ibrahim Majid (34th), Sebestian Soria (42nd), Mesad Ali Al-Hamad (53rd) and Bilal Mohammed (60th) were shown the yellow card. While UAE's Khamis Esmaeel Zayed (78th) was pulled up for an infringement during the game. The eight-team tournament, hosted by Bahrain due to fears of violence in Iraq, is being played over two weeks amid tight security due to a crisis in the Gulf nation. The hosts too saw four of their players shown the yellow, while Ahmed Kano (64th) of Oman was given the yellow by the referee. For Bahrain, Ismail Abdulatif (53rd), Rashid Khalil Al-Hawti (54th), Abdulwahab Ali (68th) and Abdullah Ismail Omar (71st) were yellow carded. — SG
