The Group Stage of the Arab Cup culminated last night. The top two teams from each of the 4 groups made it to the quarter-finals, beginning tomorrow.
It was a well-fought group stage, which threw more surprises than expected, and though some of the bigger teams did not have their A players on duty, their performances were much below par. The limelight, however, was stolen by Palestine as they emerged on top of Group A, exhibiting tremendous grit and determination to defy the hosts Qatar and one of the favourites, Tunisia. No wonder the Arab Cup is all about Palestine now and whether the Lions of Canaan are able to make further headway into the tournament.
Jordan were brilliant in the Group Stages, winning all their matches with considerable ease. The Al Nashamas scored 8 goals in 3 matches, the highest by any team in the competition. The Algerians scored 7 and, along with Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Morocco, were undefeated in the group stages.
Syria, too, showed huge intent to survive the group stage. UAE outclassed Kuwait in a crucial encounter to qualify for the quarter-finals. Saudi Arabia and Iraq also qualified by putting up decent performances in the Group Stage. Egypt, one of the favourites, were off colour and had to leave the tournament early.
The Quarter-Finals line-up is as follows:-
Morocco vs Syria, Tomorrow at 8 pm IST
Palestine vs Saudi Arabia, Tomorrow at 11 pm IST
Jordan vs Iraq, Friday 12th December 8 pm IST
Algeria vs UAE, Friday 12th December 11 pm IST
It would be interesting to see how Palestine reacts to the Saudi Challenge.
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