Saudi Arabia defender Hassan Tambakti has been heavily criticised after missing a penalty in his side’s shootout victory over Qatar in the semi-final of the Arabian Gulf Cup “Gulf 27”.
Saudi Arabia won 3-2 on penalties after the match ended goalless, securing a place in the final against the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Mohamed Kanno and Mukhtar Ali scored for Saudi Arabia, while Tambakti and Feras Al-Buraikan missed their attempts. For Qatar, Edmilson and Al-Jarahi converted, but Almoez Ali, Jassem Gaber and Boualem Khoukhi failed to score.
Tambakti hesitated during his run-up and Qatar’s goalkeeper saved his effort comfortably.
Speaking on the Rotana Sport with Waleed programme, sports presenter Imad Al-Salmi said Tambakti had approached the moment with excessive calmness. He described him as a “cold” player, arguing that he had misunderstood how to remain composed when taking a penalty.
Al-Salmi said the defender should have taken greater responsibility and criticised the quality of the attempt, describing the way he struck the ball as poor.
Mohamed Al-Anazi said Tambakti’s penalty-taking technique was not new, pointing out that the player had scored using the same method on previous occasions. However, he felt the attempt against Qatar was unsuccessful and said decisive moments demanded greater seriousness and power.
“Bad execution. He has to strike it from the heart and make people feel that he is serious,” Al-Anazi said.
Mohamed Al-Sheikh was more critical of the decision to select Tambakti for the shootout. He said the defender’s stance and slow movement before striking the ball made his intentions clear to the goalkeeper, adding that Tambakti was not a specialist penalty taker.
Ibrahim Al-Anqari also criticised the attempt, saying Tambakti went into the penalty without a clear idea of how he wanted to take it.
The comments were shared by Rotana Sport with Waleed on 3 October 2026 under a post discussing Tambakti’s penalty.
