UAE kicks off Dalic era with a crushing victory over Yemen

The United Arab Emirates launched the era of their new Croatian coach, Zlatko Dalic, with a resounding 4-0 victory over Yemen on Thursday at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, in the opening match of the 27th Gulf Cup (Khaleeji 27).

It was the first match under Dalic, who took over in August as the replacement for Romanian Cosmin Olaru, and it was an ideal debut. The "White Falcons" secured their first win in the tournament since 2019, when they defeated Yemen 3-0 in the 24th Gulf Cup in Doha, before suffering eight consecutive matches without a victory.

This is the UAE's largest win in the tournament since the 1979 edition in Iraq (Khaleeji 5), when they also beat Oman 4-0.

Conversely, Yemen failed to extend their historic unbeaten run, having gone eight consecutive official matches across all competitions without a loss, and suffered their first defeat of 2026.

Control and superiority lay with the UAE, whose coach—and the most successful in Croatian history, having led the national team to second place at the 2018 World Cup and third in 2022—fielded ten naturalized players in the starting lineup, who made a clear difference.

The UAE, who controlled 64% of possession in the first half, were slow to convert their dominance and create danger. Jimenez delivered a cross that Lucas Pimenta headed to Bruno Oliveira, whose shot was saved by Yemeni goalkeeper Mohammed Aman (22).

However, Jimenez, who brilliantly dribbled past defender Nader Sahl following a pass from Pereira, opened the scoring with a clever shot into the net (26).

Pereira scored the third goal with a low drive, assisted by a ground pass from Alaadin Zahir (45+4), marking the first time in the tournament's history that the UAE scored three goals in a single half.

The situation did not change in the second half, with UAE superiority continuing. Jimenez scored his second personal goal and the UAE's fourth with a precise header from a cross by Miloni (51).