21st Arabian Gulf Cup
Introduction The '''21st Arabian Gulf Cup''' () was the twenty-first edition of the biennial football competition. It took place in Bahrain in January 2013.The competition was originally scheduled to be hosted in the city of Basra, Iraq, but was moved to Bahrain in October 2011 to ensure that Iraq could suitably host the competition in the 22nd edition.
Seeding of teams The eight participating teams were divided into two groups, Bahrain (the host nation) were placed in Group A, Kuwait (the holder) in Group B, while the rest of the teams were placed in a pot based on FIFA rankings. The draw was held in Bahrain on 18 October 2012.Pot National Team FIFA Ranking '''A'''  (hosts)  (holders) '''B'''   '''C'''   '''D'''
Venues  Riffa Isa Town Bahrain National Stadium Khalifa Sports City Stadium Capacity: 35,000 Capacity: 20,000 180px
Opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 21st Arabian Gulf Cup took place in the Bahrain National Stadium on 5 January. The event featured the attendance of Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain, members of the ruling family, Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, Michel Platini, the president of UEFA as well as other officials. Blatter commended the ceremony, stating that "The opening ceremony was very nice: 9.5 out of 10 because perfection does not exist". Following the ceremony, Blatter also stated that the organisational level of the Gulf Cup would have to be improved if it was to be a FIFA-sanctioned event and wanted the cup to be played simultaneously with the Africa Cup of Nations.
Squads
Group stage All times are local time (UTC+03:00).===Group A===--------===Group B===--------
Knockout stage The third place match with Bahrain and Kuwait.===Semi-finals===----===Third place play-off======Final===
Goalscorers ;3 goals* Abdulhadi Khamis* Ahmed Khalil;2 goals* Hammadi Ahmad* Younis Mahmoud* Bader Al-Mutawa* Yousef Nasser* Khalfan Ibrahim* Omar Abdulrahman* Ali Mabkhout;1 goal* Faouzi Mubarak Aaish* Hussain Ali Baba* Abdulwahab Al Malood* Abdulla Yusuf Helal* Dhurgham Ismail* Salam Shaker* Abdulrahman Bani* Abdulaziz Al Salimi* Ismail Al Hammadi* Majed Hassan* Mohamed Ahmed Gharib* Fahad Al-Muwallad* Yasser Al-Qahtani* Hussain Al-Hadhri* Mohamed El-Sayed;1 own goal* Osama Hawsawi (playing against Iraq)
Team statistics This table shows all team performance.Team'''Final phase'''1''''''5500103+72''''''531173+43''''''530293+64512249−5'''Eliminated in the group stage'''5310223−16310235−27301214−38300306−6
Prize money and awards === Prize money ===The football associations were given prize money for a fourth place and above finish in the competition in riyals. *First Place: 2,000,000 Riyals*Second Place: 1,500,000 Riyals*Third Place: 500,000 Riyals*Fourth Place: 250,000 Riyals=== Playing awards ===The following awards were given:AwardPlayerPrize moneyFair Play Award  200,000 RiyalsTop Scorer  Abdulhadi Khamis  Ahmad Khalil100,000 RiyalsMost Valuable player  Omar Abdulrahman 100,000 RiyalsBest Goalkeeper  Noor Sabri 100,000 Riyals
References
External links *  Official Site*  Gulf Cup website