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

Noureddine Ould Ali is staying positive despite a difficult situation at home and tough opponents at the Gulf Cup The Yemen national team coach, Noureddine Ould Ali, chose not to reach for a good old-fashioned football excuse for his team’s 1-0 loss to Qatar in the Gulf Cup on Saturday, despite a clear penalty that was not given his way.

The defeat meant the Reds crashed out of the eight-nation regional tournament, currently taking place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with a game of the group stage still remaining.

There are other factors that the Algerian coach could list for a defeat against a team that was at the World Cup in the summer.

Qatar also have the Aspire Academy, state of the art stadia and a former Spain and Real Madrid coach – Julen Lopetegui – in charge.

Yemen have none of those things and have not played a home game since 2012, a 2-1 win over Palestine in Sanaa. Continue reading...