The reporter reported coldly The Gulf Cup in which the two opponents of the national football team, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, participated in the round of 18, the Saudi Arabian team, which the national football team will play away in March, stopped in the semifinals, and the Bahrain team, which the national football team will play at home in June, won the championship, and the performance of the two West Asian opponents in the Gulf Cup is very different. The negative impact of the Saudi team's exit from the Gulf Cup is still extending, not only the new coach Hainach has suffered an unprecedented crisis of confidence, but also a number of international players have said that they will retire from the national team, which has further depressed the morale of the team.

The Saudi team is mired in more serious internal and external troubles than in the Mancini era, and the defeat in the Gulf Cup will certainly affect their preparations for the March 18 round. Bahrain's success in the Gulf Cup will give Taladzic's West Asian dark horses confidence in their last-18 matches away to Japan and Indonesia in March.

The Saudi team crisis continues to intensify

The Saudi Arabian team, which competed in the Gulf Cup with most of its main team, reached the semi-finals, and the new coach Hainach was widely criticized by the Saudi media and football circles after the game. In addition to questioning his employment standards, tactical concepts and on-the-spot adaptability, more people pointed the finger at the Saudi Football Association, which signed two "failed coaches" in a row. Before the game, Heinach had promised that he would win the Gulf Cup, but after he was out, he said that he was only participating in the tournament to train the team and scout the players for the round of 18. The Saudi football community is very unhappy about this, believing that Hainach should apologize to Mohammed, the vice president of the Iraqi Football Federation.

After the Saudi team lost 2-3 to Bahrain in the first game of the Gulf Cup group stage, Mohammed, vice president of the Iraqi Football Association, mocked the Saudi team for not having the morale and form to compete for the championship. At that time, the Saudi media and football circles did not agree with Mohammed's views, but Hainah's remarks after the Saudi team was eliminated confirmed Mohammed's assertion and embarrassed the Saudi media and football circles. The Saudi media believes that the Saudi league is suspended for the Gulf Cup, and the Saudi team even recalled the foreign player Shahafi from the firing line of the Belgian League.

The Saudi media believes that Hainach is very similar to his predecessor Mancini, and has not only been unable to lead the Saudi team to success, but also led to low morale of the Saudi team. Originally, the Gulf Cup was a very important training for preparing for the round of 18, but the comprehensive failure at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends led to the Saudi Arabian team suffering another heavy blow to confidence after 4 consecutive winless games in the round of 18. Many Saudi internationals have huge doubts and fears about the prospect of not qualifying for the round of 18. Former Saudi Arabian Olympic coach Al-Qadi believes that Hainach lost the motivation to lead the team after leading the Saudi team to an upset victory over Argentina in the 2022 World Cup. Moreover, Qadi also refuted Hainach's excuse that the Saudi international did not play enough time in the league: "Most of the international players in the Gulf Cup are basically playing in the league, and it is the French coach himself who is still living in the aura of the past, and the players who have been successful in the past are still recruited, but the form of these players has long been different." ”

In addition to the unprecedented crisis of confidence in the coach, morale in the Saudi team is also low. Following the announcement that the 33-year-old main goalkeeper Owais would retire from the national team, the main defender Breich and defender Kano have also expressed the same will. The Saudi media believe that the 36-year-old Bouhi's retirement from the national team is understandable, as he has realised that he can no longer contribute his best form to the national team. But Owais and Kano are still the main players of the Saudi team, and the idea of retiring after the Gulf Cup is a serious blow to the morale of the Saudi team's dressing room.

Saudi media revealed that despite the poor results in the Gulf Cup, the Saudi Football Association decided to continue to trust Hainakh. However, the French coach needs to submit a detailed technical report, including an evaluation of the performance of the players, as well as the preparation plan for the round of 18 in March and the results of the current inspection of the players. In the round of 18 in March, Saudi Arabia will play China and Japan in succession, and Hainach must get at least three points. However, the Saudi Football Federation's top priority is to solve the problem of the old internationals' reluctance to play for the national team as soon as possible.

Winning the Gulf Cup has increased Bahrain's confidence

Compared with the demoralized Saudi Arabian team, the Bahrain team, which the national football team will face in the final round of the round of 18, has increased its confidence after winning the Gulf Cup. The Bahrain team is winless in five games in the first 18 matches of the Gulf Cup, and the home team is winless against the lower-level Indonesia and the national football team, and the coach Taladzic was once rumored to be in danger, but the Bahrain Football Association still decided to continue to trust the Croatian coach and at the same time use the Gulf Cup as an important investigation event.

Bahrain were the best in the Gulf Cup, with the exception of defender Nabil, 36-year-old midfielder Haram and Nigerian-born naturalised midfielder Ated, with the rest of the players participating in November's round of 18 participating in the Gulf Cup. Compared with the 343 formation change against the national football team at home in November last year, Taladzic focused on experimenting with the 4231 formation in the Gulf Cup in an attempt to increase the attacking power. Abdul Jabbar played as a central striker in front of him, and winger Ma Hong, who scored twice against Indonesia, switched to a forward midfielder, with Humaidan and Madan on the wings to open up the attacking space, and Aswad and Dia as the double midfielders.

Except for the substitute lineup against Yemen after qualifying for the third round of the group stage, the starting lineup of the Bahrain team in the remaining four games is almost identical. In the final against Oman, the main center forward Abduljabbar was suspended, and the 34-year-old veteran center Romaisi started in the No. 9 position, and the Bahrain team scored eight goals in four main games, and the main attacker was Mahon, who played in the Kuwait League. In four games, he handed over three goals and one assist, and participated in half of the goals of the Bahrain team. Winger Madan scored 2 goals and Humaidan scored 1 goal and 1 assist.

The main center Abduljabbar scored 1 goal, counting the game against Yemen, and the substitute center Romaisi also had 1 goal and 1 assist, which was the biggest discovery of the Gulf Cup Bahrain team on the offensive end. Before the Gulf Cup, the last time he was selected for the Bahrain team was in September 2022, and this time he was selected because he scored eight goals in seven games in the new season in Bahrain, ranking second in the scorer list, five goals more than Bahrain's main striker Abduljabal. Taladzic had been hoping to solve the problem of inconsistent goalmouth efficiency during the round of 18, and the 4231 formation and Romaisi shone in the Gulf Cup, allowing Bahrain to complete the Gulf Cup personnel scouting successfully.

This is the second time Bahrain have won the Gulf Cup since 2019, and they have reached the final in six times in their history, winning the most games and scoring more goals than they did in 2019. This is the eighth trophy of Taladzic's coaching career, and the second international title in 20 years, after leading Jeddah United to the AFC Champions League in 2004. He had previously reached the finals of the Gulf Champions League (2005/06) and the AFC Cup (2011), both of which were runners-up. This is his second trophy in two years, and the morale of the Bahrain team has reached new heights, which could have a subtle impact on the trend of the round of 18.