2012 Arab Nations Cup
The 2012 Arab Cup (Arabic: كأس العرب 2012) was the tenth edition of the Arab Nations Cup, also referred to as the Arab Cup for national football teams affiliated with the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA).
 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Saudi Arabia |
| Dates | 22 June – 6 July |
| Teams | 11 (from 2 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 2 (in 2 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Morocco (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Libya |
| Third place |  Iraq |
| Fourth place |  Saudi Arabia |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 19 |
| Goals scored | 47 (2.47 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Yassine Salhi (6 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Yassine Salhi |
The tournament was hosted by Saudi Arabia between 22 June and 6 July 2012.[1] It is the second time that the nation has hosted the tournament, the first being in 1985. This edition witnessed the return of Iraq – the most successful team and record holder of the Arab Nations Cup with four titles – after a 25-year absence due to the Gulf War.
Prize money
The tournament's lead sponsor was Singaporean company World Sport Group[2] who describe themselves as "Asia's leading sports marketing, media and event management company."[3]
The winner received USD$1million, the runner-up will receive $600,000, the third placed team will receive $300,000, while the other participating football associations will receive $200,000 each.[4]
Teams
Participating
| Country | Confederation | Previous appearances in tournament |
|---|---|---|
 Bahrain | AFC | 4 (1966, 1985, 1988, 2002) |
 Egypt (Olympic team)[5] | CAF | 3 (1988, 1992, 1998) |
| Iraq | AFC | 4 (1964, 1966, 1985, 1988) |
 Kuwait | AFC | 7 (1963, 1964, 1966, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2002) |
 Lebanon | AFC | 6 (1963, 1964, 1966, 1988, 1998, 2002) |
| Libya1 | CAF | 3 (1964, 1966, 1998) |
| Morocco (Local team) | CAF | 2 (1998, 2002) |
 Palestine | AFC | 3 (1966, 1992, 2002) |
| Saudi Arabia | AFC | 5 (1985, 1988, 1992, 1998, 2002) |
 Sudan | CAF | 2 (1998, 2002) |
 Yemen | AFC | 2 (1966, 2002) |
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Draw
The official draw was held on 6 May 2012 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The remaining 11 teams were ranked based on the FIFA World Rankings of May 2012 before the draw.
| Seeding pots | Nation | FIFA Rankingas of May 2012 |
|---|---|---|
| Pot A | Saudi Arabia |
89 |
| Libya |
39 | |
| Egypt |
55 | |
| Pot B | Morocco |
62 |
| Iraq |
70 | |
| Kuwait |
87 | |
| Pot C | Bahrain |
93 |
| Sudan |
113 | |
 United Arab Emirates |
121 | |
| Pot D | Lebanon |
128 |
| Palestine |
153 | |
| Yemen |
156 |
The United Arab Emirates withdrew from the competition after the group draw had been made; they were initially drawn into group A.[10]
It will be played as tournament with three groups made of four teams each. The organizer country, Saudi Arabia was assigned to Group A.
Venues
| Jeddah | Ta’if | |
|---|---|---|
| Prince Abdullah al-Faisal Stadium | King Fahd Stadium | |
| Capacity: 20,000 | Capacity: 17,000 | |
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Match officials
The following referees were chosen for the 2012 Arab Nations Cup.
Referees
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Assistant referees
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Squads
Group stage
Group A
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 4 |
| Kuwait |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 3 |
| Palestine |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 1 |
| Saudi Arabia | 4–0 | Kuwait |
|---|---|---|
Al-Sahlawi  22', 90+3' Al-Mehyani 51', 56' |
Report |
| Kuwait | 2–0 | Palestine |
|---|---|---|
| Khamis 27' Al-Rashidi 90+2' |
| Saudi Arabia | 2–2 | Palestine |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Ruwaili 9' Al-Zylaeei 85' |
Report | Abu Saleh 45+1' (pen.) Al Amour 73' |
Group B
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morocco A' |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | +8 | 7 |
| Libya |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 |
| Yemen |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 3 |
| Bahrain |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 0 |
| Morocco A' | 4–0 | Bahrain |
|---|---|---|
| El Bahri 17' Salhi 78' Al-Hayam 83' (o.g.) Benjelloun 90+' |
| Libya | 3–1 | Yemen |
|---|---|---|
| Saad 17' (pen.) Salama 53'Al-Ghuwail 89' |
Al-Sasi 69' |
| Libya | 0–0 | Morocco A' |
|---|---|---|
| Yemen | 0–4 | Morocco A' |
|---|---|---|
| Salhi 10' (pen.), 48', 58', 63' (pen.) |
Group C
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iraq |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 7 |
| Sudan |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 5 |
| Egypt U23 |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 2 |
| Lebanon |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 1 |
| Egypt U23 | 1–1 | Sudan |
|---|---|---|
| Magdi 38' |
Elamin 80' |
Best placed runner-up
The team that finish highest of all group runners-up will also proceed to the semi-final stage. Due to Group A only having three teams in their group, results against teams finishing fourth will not be counted. The best runners-up will face the winner of group A in the semifinals while the winner of group B will face the winner of group C.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libya |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 4 |
| Kuwait |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 3 |
| Sudan |
2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Knockout phase
The semi-final winners proceed to the final and those who lost compete in the third place playoff.
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 3 July - Jeddah | ||||||
| Saudi Arabia | 0 | |||||
| 6 July - Jeddah | ||||||
| Libya | 2 | |||||
| Libya | 1 (1) | |||||
| 3 July - Jeddah | ||||||
| Morocco A' (pen.) | 1 (3) | |||||
| Morocco A' | 2 | |||||
| Iraq | 1 | |||||
| Third place | ||||||
| 5 July - Jeddah | ||||||
| Saudi Arabia | 0 | |||||
| Iraq | 1 | |||||
Semi-finals
| Saudi Arabia | 0–2 | Libya |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Sebaee 75' Saad 90+6' (pen.) |
| Morocco A' | 2–1 | Iraq |
|---|---|---|
| El Gharib 23' Salhi 28' |
Karim 90+6' (pen.) |
Third place play-off
| Saudi Arabia | 0–1 | Iraq |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Abdul-Zahra 16' |
Final
| Libya | 1–1 (a.e.t.) | Morocco A' |
|---|---|---|
| Al Badri 89' |
El Bahri 5' |
|
| Penalties | ||
Al Badri  Al Ghanodi  Salama Al-Sebaee |
1–3 | Salhi Jahouh Abdessamad Bourhim Belmaalem |
Statistics
Goalscorers
- 6 goals
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
- 1 goal
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- Own goal
- Waleed Al Hayam (playing against Morocco)
Awards
- Yassine Salhi – was named the player of the tournament, and was the top scorer of the tournament with a total of 6 goals.[11]
Team statistics
| Pos. | Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morocco A' |
5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 2 | +9 |
| 2 | Libya |
5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 8 | 3 | +5 |
| 3 | Iraq |
5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 4 | +2 |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 5 | +1 |
| Eliminated in the group stage | |||||||||
| 5 | Kuwait |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | -2 |
| 6 | Sudan |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 2 | +2 |
| 7 | Yemen |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | -4 |
| 8 | Egypt U23 |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -1 |
| 9 | Palestine |
2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 |
| 10 | Lebanon |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | -3 |
| 11 | Bahrain |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | -7 |
| Total | 19(1) | 13 | 6(2) | 13 | 51 | 47 | 47 | 0 | |
Team(s) rendered in italics represent(s) the host nation(s). The competition's winning team is rendered in bold.
(1) – Total games lost not counted in total games played (total games lost = total games won)
(2) – Total number of games drawn (tied) for all teams = Total number of games drawn (tied) ÷ 2 (both teams involved)
Media
Broadcasting
| Territory | Channel |
|---|---|
 Qatar |
BeIN Sports |
| Saudi Arabia |
Al-Riyadiah |
References
- الإتحاد المغربي يرفض مشاركة المنتخب في البطولة العربية بالمحترفين (in Arabic). kooora.com. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
- جوائز مالية محفزة للمنتخبات المشاركة في كأس العرب (in Arabic). Middle East Online. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
- "World Sports : About us". worldsportgroup.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- مليون دولار للفائز بكأس العرب و200 ألف لكل منتخب مشارك (in Arabic). alyaum.net. 5 April 2012. Archived from the original on 14 May 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
- المنتخب الأوليمبى يشارك فى كأس العرب بجدة. EFA.com (in Arabic). Egyptian Football Association. 5 January 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
- "9th Arab Cup: Easy Win for Libya Against Yemen". Tripoli Post. 24 June 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
Contrary to expectations Libya fielded the national team instead of the Under 21 side and they proved much too strong for their opponents.
- "9th Arab Nations Cup: Libya in action against Yemen Saturday". Tripoli Post. 23 June 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
In Group B, Libya, which is scheduled to field its Under 21 team, has to contend with Yemen, its first opponents, Morocco and Bahrain.
- الجزائر تعتذر عن المشاركة في بطولة كأس العرب للأمم (in Arabic). Al Jazeera Sport. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
- الأردن يعتذر عن المشاركة في كأس العرب (in Arabic). Al Jazeera Sport. 9 January 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
- "UAE pulls out of Arab Cup of Nations after loss of players hits squad". The National. United Arab Emirates. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
- "حصاد كأس العرب .. 47 هدفاً و اسود أطلس يعانقون اللقب للمرة الأولى". كووورة - أحمد التيمومي. 7 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2012.