2015 AFC Asian Cup Group A

Group A of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup was one of four groups of nations competing at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. The group's first round of matches were played on 9 and 10 January, the second round on 13 January, and the final round on 17 January. All six group matches were played at venues in Australia. The group consisted of hosts Australia, South Korea, Oman and Kuwait. ^[1] South Korea and Australia advanced as group winners and runners-up respectively, while Oman and Kuwait were eliminated.

Teams

Draw position	Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance	FIFA Rankings
							March 2014 [nb 1]	Start of event
A1	Australia	Hosts	5 January 2011	3rd	2011	Runners-up (2011)	63	100
A2	South Korea	2011 AFC Asian Cup third place	28 January 2011	13th	2011	Winners (1956, 1960)	60	69
A3	Oman	Group A winners	19 November 2013	3rd	2007	Group stage (2004, 2007)	81	93
A4	Kuwait	Group B runners-up	19 November 2013	10th	2011	Winners (1980)	110	125

Notes

1. The rankings of March 2014 were used for seeding for the final draw.

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Korea	3	3	0	0	3	0	+3	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Australia (H)	3	2	0	1	8	2	+6	6
3	Oman	3	1	0	2	1	5	−4	3
4	Kuwait	3	0	0	3	1	6	−5	0

Source: Asian Cup Australia 2015
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Host

In the quarter-finals:

• South Korea advanced to play Uzbekistan (runner-up of Group B).
• Australia advanced to play China PR (winner of Group B).

Matches

Australia vs Kuwait

The match between Australia and Kuwait

Hussain Fadhel's eighth-minute header briefly dampened spirits at a sold-out Melbourne Rectangular Stadium only for Massimo Luongo to set up Tim Cahill to equalise with his 37th international goal, 12 minutes before half-time. After Luongo headed home his first for the Socceroos at the end of the first half, a penalty from captain Mile Jedinak two minutes after the hour mark and a late strike from James Troisi secured all three points for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup finalists in the Group A opener. ^[2] Looking to build on reaching the final of the last edition in Qatar, Australia made a bright start on a chilly evening, but the home side were stunned after just eight minutes as Fadhel stooped at the near post to direct a diving header from Abdulaziz Al Masha'an's right wing corner low past goalkeeper Mathew Ryan having broken clear of defender Trent Sainsbury. Australia were able to double their advantage two minutes after the hour mark as captain Jedinak confidently sent Hameed Youssef the wrong way from the penalty spot after Robbie Kruse had been upended by Sultan Al Enezi just inside the area. ^[3]

Kuwait came close to setting up a tense finish as only a finger-tip save from Ryan turned Fahad Al Ansari's superb 71st minute effort onto the crossbar, before Australia substitute Nathan Burns followed suit soon after with an acrobatic glancing header at the other end. But it was Australia who looked the more likely to add to their lead and Troisi's close range finish in stoppage time sealed an ultimately impressive victory for the home side. ^{[3] [4]}

The win meant that Australia had become the first host since Singapore back in 1984 to win the opening game of the tournament. For Kuwait, the country has failed to register a win since the 3–1 victory over the United Arab Emirates back in 2004.

9 January 2015

20:00 AEDT (UTC+11)

Australia	4–1	Kuwait
Cahill 33' Luongo 45' Jedinak 62' (pen.) Troisi 90+2'	Report	Fadhel 8'

Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne

Attendance: 25,231

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

Australia

Kuwait

GK 1 Mathew Ryan RB 2 Ivan Franjić CB 20 Trent Sainsbury CB 6 Matthew Spiranovic LB 13 Aziz Behich RM 21 Massimo Luongo  84' CM 15 Mile Jedinak (c) LM 14 James Troisi RF 7 Mathew Leckie CF 4 Tim Cahill  65' LF 10 Robbie Kruse  72' Substitutions: FW 9 Tomi Jurić  65' FW 16 Nathan Burns  72' MF 23 Mark Bresciano  84' Manager: Ange Postecoglou

GK 23 Hameed Youssef RB 5 Fahed Al Hajri CB 4 Hussain Fadhel  19'  57' CB 13 Musaed Neda (c) LB 6 Khaled Al Qahtani  75' RM 8 Saleh Al Sheikh CM 11 Fahad Al Ansari CM 12 Sultan Al Enezi LM 21 Ali Maqseed CF 10 Abdulaziz Al Masha'an  64' CF 16 Faisal Zaid  47' Substitutions: DF 2 Amer Al Fadhel  57' FW 20 Yousef Nasser  64' FW 17 Bader Al-Mutawa  75' Manager: Nabil Maâloul

Man of the Match: Massimo Luongo (Australia) [5] Assistant referees: Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan) Bakhadyr Kochkarov (Kyrgyzstan) Fourth official: Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob (Malaysia) Fifth official: Mohd Yusri Muhamad (Malaysia)

South Korea vs Oman

Third place finishers in 2011, South Korea were on top for much of the first period but at half-time had only Cho Young-cheol's stoppage time goal to show for their control of proceedings. A flurry of attacking substitutions in the final 30 minutes did see Oman threaten to level the game, notably through Amad Al-Hosni who had a header tipped onto the crossbar in added time, but South Korea held on to move into second place behind Australia. With a rainy conditions in the Australian capital, South Korea had their first chance on five minutes as midfielder Koo Ja-cheol cut in from the left-hand side and fired in a shot from the edge of the penalty area that Ali Al-Habsi got down low to his right to tip around the post. Two minutes later, Son Heung-min latched on to a long ball over the top from Kim Chang-soo and lifted the ball over Al-Habsi, only to see it bounce off the top of the crossbar and away from danger. Defender Jaber Al-Owaisi had a chance to put Oman ahead against the run of play but turned his header well over the bar from Eid Al-Farsi's corner on 12th minutes. Although, South Korea began to stamp their authority on the game, with six minutes of the half remaining Kim Ju-young brought down Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali and from 20 yards out Al Farsi bent the ball marginally wide of the far post. As the match neared the half-time interval, South Korea scored the opening goal they had long threatened. Al-Habsi had already athletically turned away his own defender Abdul Salam Al-Mukhaini's unintentional header and kept out a long-range free-kick from Son but he was beaten a minute into first half stoppage time. ^[6]

Lee Chung-yong pounced on a loose ball and laid the ball off to Koo and the midfielder's left footed shot from outside the area was beaten out by Al-Habsi only as far as a sliding Cho who forced the ball back across the wrong-footed goalkeeper and into the opposite corner from close range. South Korea continued as they had left off after the break and four minutes after the restart, Lee drove a low shot into the side netting and then Al-Habsi pulled off a fine reaction save to tip over Koo's header from point-blank range.

Oman coach Paul Le Guen made attacking replacements in the final half hour by bringing on Al-Hosni and Mohsin Al-Khaldi in an attempt to restore parity and on 76th minutes Al-Muqbali had a golden chance to equalize when Ali Al-Busaidi picked him out all alone in the penalty area but the forward's first touch was poor and South Korea cleared their lines. The West Asians continued to put in an improved performance thereafter as South Korea sat back, and in stoppage time Al-Hosni's goal-bound header from a corner was dramatically touched onto the crossbar by Kim Jin-hyeon as Uli Stielike's side narrowly escaped to take all three points. ^{[7] [8]}

10 January 2015

16:00 AEDT (UTC+11)

South Korea	1–0	Oman
Cho Young-cheol 45+1'	Report

Canberra Stadium, Canberra

Attendance: 12,552

Referee: Peter O'Leary (New Zealand)

South Korea

Oman

GK 23 Kim Jin-hyeon RB 2 Kim Chang-soo  19' CB 4 Kim Ju-young CB 20 Jang Hyun-soo LB 3 Kim Jin-su CM 6 Park Joo-ho CM 16 Ki Sung-yueng (c) RW 17 Lee Chung-yong  78' AM 13 Koo Ja-cheol LW 7 Son Heung-min CF 9 Cho Young-cheol  71' Substitutions: DF 22 Cha Du-ri  19' FW 18 Lee Jung-hyup  71' MF 12 Han Kyo-won  78' Manager: Uli Stielike

GK 1 Ali Al-Habsi (c) CB 13 Abdulsalam Al-Mukhaini CB 3 Jaber Al-Owaisi  73' CB 2 Mohammed Al-Musalami RWB 6 Raed Ibrahim Saleh LWB 16 Ali Al-Busaidi RM 7 Mohammed Al-Siyabi  86' CM 12 Ahmed Mubarak Al-Mahaijri CM 8 Eid Al-Farsi LM 10 Qasim Said  61' CF 9 Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali  32' Substitutions: FW 20 Amad Al-Hosni  61' MF 21 Mohsin Al-Khaldi  73' FW 23 Said Al-Ruzaiqi  86' Manager: Paul Le Guen

Man of the Match: Koo Ja-cheol (South Korea) [9] Assistant referees: Jan-Hendrik Hintz (New Zealand) Mark Rule (New Zealand) Fourth official: Yudai Yamamoto (Japan) Fifth official: Najah Raham Alhamaidah (Iraq)

Kuwait vs South Korea

A goal from Nam Tae-hee meant South Korea would later join Australia, 4-0 winners over Oman, as the first teams to book themselves a place in the tournament's quarter-finals after they defeated Kuwait 1–0 at Canberra Stadium. The midfielder's breakthrough came on 35 minutes from a bullet header but Kuwait would once again be ruing the woodwork after they hit the post early in the second half through Ali Maqseed after having similar misfortune in their opening loss to Australia in the opening match. ^[10]

Kuwait were eliminated from the tournament and would be playing for pride against Oman in their final group stage tie at Newcastle Stadium after their defeat in Australia's capital. Ahead of the game, both coaches had rung the changes with Uli Stielike bringing in seven new starters due to a swathe of injuries and illness to key players including Lee Chung-yong and Son Heung-min. Kuwait, too, also saw new faces at both ends of the field with defenders Amer Al Fadhel and Fahad Awadh coming in, as well as forwards Abdullah Al Buraiki and Yousef Nasser, all four making their first starts of the campaign. Having lost their Group A opener, the onus was on Kuwait to attack but their early attempts were snuffed out by the Korean backline as the first period began in cagey fashion with little goal-mouth action. But by the half hour mark, the match finally came into life as Kim Min-woo sent Lee Keun-ho through on goal, but Kuwait goalkeeper Hameed Youssef stood up well to get a hand to the Korean striker's attempted lob and he batted the ball over the crossbar. ^{[11] [12]}

The warning was not heeded by Kuwait and in their next attack the Koreans took the lead. Kim Min-woo found Cha Du-ri on the right flank and the full back set off on a lung-busting run before whipping in a cross that was met by a towering header from Nam that Youssef could not keep out. The breakthrough sent confidence flowing through the East Asians and they easily played out the remainder of the first period. But the Korean's composure was almost shattered within the first three minutes of the second half as Al Maqseed hit a sublime shot from the right-hand corner of the penalty area that had Kim Seung-gyu beaten as it clattered off the far post. With the second half turning into an exciting end-to-end spectacle, Nam then went close with his own long-range special as he cut inside and drove a low shot narrowly wide of Youssef's left-hand post on the hour mark, before Al Maqseed then went close again after checking inside Jang Hyun-soo and curling inches over the Korean crossbar. Coach Nabil Maâloul threw on star forward Bader Al-Mutawa with just under half an hour remaining as Kuwait pushed for a leveler but it was Korea who went closest to netting next as Kim Min-woo forced a solid save from Youssef as he unleashed an angled drive from inside of the penalty area following a one-two with Lee Keun-ho. ^[13]

Abdulaziz Al Misha'an went close with a near post attempt before Park Joo-ho and Lee Jung-hyup both had efforts well-saved as the game ended in frenetic fashion with neither team able to make further incursions into the scoreline as Korean fans celebrated in the stands. ^[14]

13 January 2015

18:00 AEDT (UTC+11)

Kuwait	0–1	South Korea
	Report	Nam Tae-hee 36'

Canberra Stadium, Canberra

Attendance: 8,795

Referee: Alireza Faghani (Iran)

Kuwait

South Korea

GK 23 Hameed Youssef RB 2 Amer Al Fadhel CB 5 Fahed Al Hajri CB 13 Musaed Neda (c) LB 3 Fahad Awadh  35' RM 9 Abdullah Al Buraiki  75' CM 11 Fahad Al Ansari LM 12 Sultan Al Enezi  64' AM 21 Ali Maqseed AM 10 Abdulaziz Al Masha'an CF 20 Yousef Nasser  76' Substitutions: FW 17 Bader Al-Mutawa  64' MF 16 Faisal Zaid  75' FW 15 Faisal Al Enezi  76' Manager: Nabil Maâloul

GK 21 Kim Seung-gyu RB 22 Cha Du-ri  70' CB 20 Jang Hyun-soo  19' CB 19 Kim Young-gwon LB 3 Kim Jin-su RM 15 Lee Myung-joo  46' CM 16 Ki Sung-yueng (c) LM 6 Park Joo-ho RF 10 Nam Tae-hee  42'  86' CF 11 Lee Keun-ho LF 8 Kim Min-woo  76' Substitutions: FW 9 Cho Young-cheol  46' FW 18 Lee Jung-hyup  76' MF 14 Han Kook-young  86' Manager: Uli Stielike

Man of the Match: Abdulaziz Al Misha'an (Kuwait) [15] Assistant referees: Reza Sokhandan (Iran) Mohammad Reza Abolfazli (Iran) Fourth official: Yudai Yamamoto (Japan) Fifth official: Najah Alhamaidah (Iraq)

Oman vs Australia

A second straight four-goal haul means Australia and South Korea would battle for top spot in Group A in Brisbane at the weekend after Ange Postecoglou's Socceroos handed Oman a comprehensive 4–0 defeat at Stadium Australia on to advance to the quarter-finals of the tournament. A draw would be enough for the tournament hosts on 17 January evening to win the group on goal difference and set up a quarter-final clash with the runners-up in Group B, after two goals in three minutes from Matt McKay and Robbie Kruse sent Australia on their way to an impressive victory. A penalty from Mark Milligan and a close range strike from second-half substitute Tomi Jurić added to Oman's woes in a game in which Paul Le Guen's side were totally outclassed. Coupled with South Korea's 1-0 win over Kuwait earlier, the two quarter-finals berths from Group A have now been filled, with only the positions at the top of the table left to be determined. ^[16]

McKay was drafted into the starting line-up as Postecoglou made three changes to the team that handed Kuwait a 4–1 thrashing in the opening game, with injured captain Mile Jedinak replaced by Mark Milligan, and McKay and Jason Davidson came in instead of James Troisi and Aziz Behich. The changes did little to disrupt the rhythm of the Socceroos, who steadily took control of the game after an early scare, when Raed Ibrahim Saleh's third minute thunderbolt from long range was brilliantly palmed to safety by Mat Ryan. However, the Socceroos, just as they did against Kuwait in the tournament opener in Melbourne, slowly took control of the game and by the time the clock had ticked past the halfway point in the opening period, Australia were in total command. Tim Cahill, captain for the night in Jedinak's absence twice went close with looping headers before McKay, one of the heroes of Australia's run to the final in Qatar four years ago, put his side in front. ^[17]

Kruse's 27th minute corner from the Omani right was headed goalward by Trent Sainsbury and McKay scooped the ball over the line from close range to lift the majority of 50,276 fans to their feet. Three minutes later the Australians doubled their advantage, with Kruse this time starting and finishing a fine move with a run from just inside his own half, laying the ball off to Massimo Luongo, whose return pass the Bayer Leverkusen striker slipped under Ali Al-Habsi. Milligan converted from the spot three minutes into first half injury time after Cahill was hauled down by Ali Al-Busaidi as the Socceroos closed out an impressive opening 45 minutes with another goal. ^[18]

Cahill and Luongo made way for Jurić and Mark Bresciano five minutes after the restart and, with 20 minutes to go, Western Sydney Wanderers’ striker Jurić put the seal on the win with a sliding finish after Leckie's superb cross from the left with the outside of his right boot gave the Oman defence little chance. ^[19]

13 January 2015

20:00 AEDT (UTC+11)

Oman	0–4	Australia
	Report	McKay 27' Kruse 30' Milligan 45+2' (pen.) Jurić 70'

Stadium Australia, Sydney

Attendance: 50,276

Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

Oman

Australia

GK 1 Ali Al-Habsi (c) CB 13 Abdulsalam Al-Mukhaini  45+1' CB 3 Jaber Al-Owaisi CB 2 Mohammed Al-Musalami RWB 6 Raed Ibrahim Saleh  88' LWB 16 Ali Al-Busaidi  46' RM 12 Ahmed Mubarak Al-Mahaijri  36' CM 8 Eid Al-Farsi LM 21 Mohsin Al-Khaldi CF 9 Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali CF 20 Amad Al-Hosni  46' Substitutions: MF 4 Ali Al-Jabri  46' DF 11 Amer Said Al-Shatri  46' DF 15 Ali Salim Al-Nahar  88' Manager: Paul Le Guen

GK 1 Mathew Ryan RB 2 Ivan Franjić CB 20 Trent Sainsbury CB 6 Matthew Spiranovic  73' LB 3 Jason Davidson  87' RM 21 Massimo Luongo  51' CM 5 Mark Milligan LM 17 Matt McKay RF 7 Mathew Leckie  77' CF 4 Tim Cahill (c)  51' LF 10 Robbie Kruse Substitutions: FW 9 Tomi Jurić  51' MF 23 Mark Bresciano  51' MF 11 Tommy Oar  77' Manager: Ange Postecoglou

Man of the Match: Robbie Kruse (Australia) [20] Assistant referees: Toru Sagara (Japan) Toshiyuki Nagi (Japan) Fourth official: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore) Fifth official: Jeffrey Goh Gek Pheng (Singapore)

Australia vs South Korea

Main article: Australia–South Korea football rivalry

Host country, Australia lost 1–0 against South Korea at Brisbane Stadium thanks to a goal from striker Lee Jung-hyup. The loss was Australia's first defeat on home soil since losing to Kuwait in qualifying for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in March 2009, means the Koreans top Group A and would play either Saudi Arabia or Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals in Melbourne. This result also meant for the first time, South Korea managed to beat Australia in Australian turf, be it in a major football competition or friendly. Australia meanwhile would take on China PR in the quarter-finals at the same ground. Lee Jeong-hyeop scored 13 minutes before the end of the first half in a thrilling encounter but the Koreans did not emerge unscathed, with midfielders Koo Ja-cheol and Park Joo-ho both departing from the game with injuries. Aziz Behich returned to the starting line-up for the Australians, as did Tomi Juric, while Son Heung-min remained on the bench for the Koreans despite having recovered from the fever that kept him out of the 1–0 win over Kuwait. ^{[21] [22]}

Just after the half hour mark, it was the Koreans who made the breakthrough in a fascinating first half. Despite having Park Joo-ho off the pitch receiving treatment following a clash with Nathan Burns that earned the Australian striker a yellow card, the Koreans took the lead following a fine move instigated by Ki Sung-yueng and finished off by Lee Jeong-hyeop. Swansea midfielder Ki slipped the ball inside Australian left back Ivan Franjic to former Asian Footballer of the Year Lee Keun-ho and his low ball towards the far post was given the faintest of touches by Lee Jung-hyup to deflect it over the line. The goal was South Korea's first on-target effort in the half, with Kwak Tae-hwi's 15th-minute header having earlier gone just wide of Mat Ryan's goal. The hosts were the livelier of the two teams in the opening exchanges, and Burns was given the chance to punish a mistake by Kim Young-gwon after just 11 minutes, only to waste the opportunity. ^[23]

Burns was Australia's most likely source of a goal in the opening 45 minutes, and the majority of the 48,513 crowd inside a packed Brisbane Stadium thought the Wellington Phoenix striker had leveled the game four minutes after the Koreans had taken the lead, but the ball hit the side netting. Knowing a draw would ensure top spot in the group standings, the Australians pushed hard in the second half for the equaliser. Juric missed a gilt-edged chance eight minutes after the restart when he steered Franjic's return pass over the bar from six yards out while 11 minutes later substitute Mathew Leckie found the arms of Kim Jin-hyeon with his effort on the turn. ^[24]

Burns' last involvement in the game almost yielded the leveler for the Australian team in the 70th minute as he surged through the middle of the Korean defence before seeing Kim Jin-hyeon save at full stretch before Kim Chang-soo hacked to safety. Robbie Kruse and Tim Cahill came off the bench for the final 20 minutes, replacing Burns and Matt McKay respectively, but the duo were unable to break South Korea's defensive resistance, with Kruse coming closest two minutes from the end when Kim Jin-hyeon deflected his close-range effort over the bar. ^{[25] [26]}

17 January 2015

19:00 AEST (UTC+10)

Australia	0–1	South Korea
	Report	Lee Jung-hyup 33'

Brisbane Stadium, Brisbane

Attendance: 48,513

Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

Australia

South Korea

GK 1 Mathew Ryan RB 2 Ivan Franjic CB 20 Trent Sainsbury CB 6 Matthew Spiranovic  79' LB 13 Aziz Behich RM 21 Massimo Luongo CM 5 Mark Milligan (c) LM 17 Matt McKay  71' RF 16 Nathan Burns  29'  71' CF 9 Tomi Jurić LF 14 James Troisi  60' Substitutions: MF 7 Mathew Leckie  60' FW 4 Tim Cahill  90+1'  71' FW 10 Robbie Kruse  71' Manager: Ange Postecoglou

GK 23 Kim Jin-hyeon RB 2 Kim Chang-soo  61' CB 5 Kwak Tae-hwi CB 19 Kim Young-gwon LB 3 Kim Jin-su CM 6 Park Joo-ho  41' CM 16 Ki Sung-yueng (c) RW 12 Han Kyo-won  58'  76' AM 13 Koo Ja-cheol  49' LW 11 Lee Keun-ho CF 18 Lee Jung-hyup Substitutions: MF 14 Han Kook-young  41' MF 7 Son Heung-min  49' DF 20 Jang Hyun-soo  76' Manager: Uli Stielike

Man of the Match: Ki Sung-yueng (South Korea) [27] Assistant referees: Yaser Tulefat (Bahrain) Ebrahim Saleh (Bahrain) Fourth official: Muhammad Taqi Al-Jaafari (Singapore) Fifth official: Jeffrey Goh (Singapore)

Oman vs Kuwait

Oman beat Kuwait 1–0 at Newcastle Stadium to finish in third place of the Group A. With both teams having lost their first two games to effectively be eliminated from the competition, the meeting between the Persian Gulf rivals had little riding on it. Oman ensured they did not finish bottom of the group by pulling off a victory thanks to a solitary goal from Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali despite Kuwait having much the better of the game. Kuwait side would feel hard done by as they outplayed their opponents for much of the match. However, a goal in the 69th minute by Al Muqbali was all that mattered for Oman at the end of the day. ^[28]

After a quiet start to the first half Kuwait began to find their rhythm, and managed the first shot on goal in the 11th minute when Musaed Neda fired in a free kick from just outside the box on the right which sailed over the bar. Just before the half hour mark Khaled Al Qahtani received the ball in space in the box on the right following a fine pass from Abdullah Al Buraiki. He had time to pull the trigger, but sent in a poor effort that flew high and right of the goal. Four minutes later on the other side of the box Kuwait had another great chance when Fahed Al Hajri was unmarked and after being on the end of a fine ball he volleyed wide of the mark. In the 42nd minute Fahad Al Ansari sent in a brilliant shot from the right and well outside the box. It was slightly too high but forced the keeper to make a dive at full stretch to make sure his goal was protected. ^[29]

The second half saw Kuwait continue to exert pressure on Oman as they went in search of a breakthrough goal. Five minutes into the second half, Oman's Jaber Al-Owaisi came so close to scoring a spectacular own goal when in trying to clear the ball he headed it just over his own cross bar. In the 53rd minute, Al Hajri shot low and left of the right hand post from just outside the box. Shortly after Al Buraiki broke down the right and as he closed in on goal quickly to fire off a shot that was well saved by Oman's goalkeeper and captain Ali Al-Habsi. Completely against the run of play Oman broke the deadlock in the 69th minute when they scored a textbook goal. ^[30]

Mohammed Al-Siyabi fired in a pinpoint cross from the right to Al Muqbali, who was unmarked and produced a fine header from close range that easily beat the keeper. Two minutes later, Al Muqbali could have made it 2–0 when he was found in the middle of the box again, but he shot well wide. Oman maintained the pressure and Qasim Said could have added another when he was found in space shortly after on the left but he blasted his shot straight at the keeper. At the other end Kuwait quickly retaliated and had two fine opportunities to draw level. In the 79th minute Al Buraiki had a clear header but failed to find the target and then one minute later from a similar position Yousef Nasser also glanced the ball wide as Kuwait finished bottom of Group A. ^[31]

17 January 2015

20:00 AEDT (UTC+11)

Oman	1–0	Kuwait
Al-Muqbali 69'	Report

Newcastle Stadium, Newcastle

Attendance: 7,499

Referee: Fahad Al-Mirdasi (Saudi Arabia)

Oman

Kuwait

GK 1 Ali Al-Habsi (c) RB 15 Ali Salim Al-Nahar CB 13 Abdulsalam Al-Mukhaini  66' CB 3 Jaber Al-Owaisi LB 16 Ali Al-Busaidi CM 12 Ahmed Mubarak Al-Mahaijri CM 8 Eid Al-Farsi RW 6 Raed Ibrahim Saleh  90+2' AM 23 Said Al-Ruzaiqi  58' LW 10 Qasim Said  82' CF 9 Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali Substitutions: FW 7 Mohammed Al-Siyabi  58' MF 4 Ali Al-Jabri  82' DF 5 Nasser Al-Shimli  90+2' Manager: Paul Le Guen

GK 22 Sulaiman Abdulghafour RB 2 Amer Al Fadhel CB 5 Fahed Al Hajri CB 13 Musaed Neda (c) LB 3 Fahad Awadh RM 9 Abdullah Al Buraiki CM 11 Fahad Al Ansari  24'  74' LM 21 Ali Maqseed AM 16 Faisal Zaid  68' AM 10 Abdulaziz Al Masha'an  60'  74' CF 20 Yousef Nasser Substitutions: FW 17 Bader Al-Mutawa  68' MF 14 Talal Al Amer  74' FW 15 Faisal Al Enezi  74' Manager: Nabil Maâloul

Man of the Match: Abdulaziz Al-Muqbali (Oman) [32] Assistant referees: Badr Al-Shumrani (Saudi Arabia) Abdulla Al Shalwai (Saudi Arabia) Fourth official: Yudai Yamamoto (Japan) Fifth official: Azman Ismail (Malaysia)

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30. Oman win 1-0 over Kuwait in Asian Cup
31. Pride to play for when Oman and Kuwait meet
32. "Le Guen delighted with Oman's victory over Kuwait". Times of Oman . 17 January 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.^{[ permanent dead link ]}

External links

• AFC Asian Cup (Official website) (in English)
• AFC Asian Cup, the-AFC.com