Ibrahim bows out with Kuwait bottom of table

Mohamad Ibrahim has announced his resignation as coach of Kuwait after their 1-0 home defeat to Oman in their Asian Cup qualifier at Al Kuwait Stadium on Wednesday night. Hassan Rabia scored the game's only goal in the second half to ensure Oman took the three points and leave Kuwait rooted to the foot of the Group B table without a win in two games. "I announced my resignation from my post after this disappointing defeat," said Ibrahim.

"I hope that the Kuwait FA transition committee can find a suitable replacement to lead the team." Kuwait had chances to take something from the game as Khaled Khalaf missed an open goal while Bader Al Mutawa's injury-time penalty was saved by the Oman keeper Mohammed Al Hooti. And, despite his decision to leave his post, Ibrahim praised his players' performance. "I'm satisfied with the performance of the players as they had a good match," he added. "I'm also happy with the form of Ahmed Ajab despite the fact he was not fortunate enough to score today. The goal that we conceded was due to a foul."

The Oman coach Claude Le Roy, was delighted with victory but was unhappy with the behaviour of the home fans. "The fans didn't behave in a civilised way and some of their reactions made me feel that I'm at a war," said the Frenchman. Meanwhile, the Bahrain coach Milan Macala tried to play down his side's impressive 1-0 home win over the Asian giants Japan in Group A. Salman Issa scored with a header in the 24th minute to give Bahrain their second consecutive victory following last week's 3-1 win over Hong Kong.

"We will not overreact because we have more hard matches to come," Macala said. "I was surprised that Japan didn't have any clear chances in the game." Takeshi Okada, Japan's coach, said: "I didn't expect to lose as we know we are a good side. What happened was surprising." * With agencies