Gulf Cup success lifts Oman

It was a historic moment for football in the Gulf when Oman captain Mohamed Rabia stepped up to the penalty spot at Muscat's Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Saturday and coolly slotted the ball past Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah.
The last action of the 2009 Gulf Cup secured a 6-5 penalty shootout victory for the hosts who, under French coach Claude Le Roy, claimed the regional honour for the first time.
Le Roy's joyOman's first real impact on the international stage was as joyous for the 70-year-old Le Roy as it was the thousands in the stands and on the streets of Muscat. Just six months after taking the role the journeyman coach had achieved unprecedented success for Oman.
"Half a year back I was determined to turn Oman into title-winners," said Le Roy who took the reigns last July in the wake of Oman crashing out of Asia's qualifying campaign for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. "Today the team did the nation proud. It was a great moment for all Omani people."
Oman is Le Roy's thirteenth coaching position and the sixth national team that he has presided over in a remarkable 30-year career.
Le Roy has previously tasted international success leading Cameroon to the winners' podium at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in 1988 but this success is especially sweet with the unfashionable Omanis achieving the first-time triumph on home soil. Oman more than meeting the expectations of the locals by demolishing Asian champions Iraq in the group stage, and then defeating regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia in the final.
"All was difficult at the beginning but we kept working hard and the team deserved to be the champions," he reflected.