Yemen and football in the face of civil war: ‘It would be very nice to give the world a different headline’

Coach Noureddine Ould Ali is staying positive despite a difficult situation at home and tough opponents at the Gulf Cup

The Yemen national coach, Noureddine Ould Ali, chose not to reach for a good old-fashioned football excuse after his team’s 1-0 loss to Qatar in the Gulf Cup on Saturday, despite a clear penalty not given their way. The defeat meant the Reds crashed out of the eight-team regional tournament, taking place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with a game of the group stage remaining.

There are other factors the Algerian could list for a defeat against a team that was at the World Cup. Qatar have the Aspire Academy, state of the art stadiums and a former Spain and Real Madrid coach – Julen Lopetegui – in charge. Yemen have nothing approaching that and have not played a home game since 2012, a 2-1 win over Palestine in Sanaa.

Continue reading...