UAE coach: Saudi Arabia deserved the title, and this is the reason for the defeat | Goal.com

Published on 06 Oct 2026 | Reading time: 2 minutes

UAE head coach Zlatko Dalic has admitted that Saudi Arabia were worthy winners of the 27th Arabian Gulf Cup, "Gulf 27".

Saudi Arabia beat the UAE 2-0 on Tuesday at the Al-Inma Stadium in Jeddah to lift the trophy in the final of the 27th edition.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, as carried by the Saudi newspaper "Asharq Al-Awsat", the Croatian said: "I congratulate Saudi Arabia. They deserved to win the title. We faced a very strong team that did not make mistakes, and they deserved to win the final."

He added: "Playing in front of the Saudi crowd put a lot of pressure on us. At the start of the match we made mistakes that should not happen in matches like these. Individual errors were the main reason for our loss today."

Dalic continued: "We conceded two early goals, and we had a chance to score from a penalty kick. After the first 20 minutes we did not get back into the match the way we needed to, and we should have produced a better performance and pressed more."

He signed off: "We put on a good tournament, and I am generally satisfied with what we offered, aside from today's match. We will learn from this tournament, build on the positives and address the negatives, and we will work on developing UAE football and preparing for the upcoming challenges."

The win ended a long wait. It is Saudi Arabia's first title in 23 years, since they were crowned champions back in 2003, while the UAE failed to reclaim a trophy that has eluded them since 2013.

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