INTERVIEW-Soccer-Yemen coach Ould Ali draws on 'emergency' experience as conflict clouds Gulf Cup

Yemen coach Noureddine Ould Ali said his experience working ‌in ​difficult environments would help him keep his players focused on football as they prepare to contest the Gulf Cup in Saudi Arabia against the backdrop of renewed fighting involving the kingdom and Yemen's Houthis.

Yemen were the first team to arrive in Jeddah for the eight-team September 23 to October 6 tournament, at ‌a time when cross-border hostilities have intensified, with Saudi Arabia carrying out air strikes in Yemen and the Iran-aligned Houthis launching missiles and drones at Saudi targets. Former Palestine coach Ould Ali said the circumstances were familiar territory.

"If you know my background over the past 10 or 16 years and where I have coached, people call me an 'emergency coach' because of the difficult circumstances I have worked in," Ould Ali told Reuters in an interview. "I ‌have some knowledge of geopolitics and experience from my time with Palestine. Today, with the Yemen national team, our focus is on football and on bringing joy to the Yemeni people and putting ‌a smile back on their faces."

Yemen's arrival in Jeddah coincided with an announcement by the Houthis that they had targeted sensitive sites in the Saudi capital Riyadh with missiles and drones. The Saudi-Houthi escalation has opened another front in the wider regional conflict that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in February.

Yemen has been mired in civil war for more than a decade since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention in 2015. A U.N.-brokered truce in 2022 sharply reduced the fighting, ⁠but failed to ​produce a lasting peace and hostilities have escalated again. Ould ⁠Ali acknowledged that it was impossible to completely isolate players and their families from events at home.

"How can that be measured in relation to Yemen? Can it be measured for every player or every family? I don't think so. At the end of ⁠the day, we are human beings, and when something painful happens anywhere, we are affected by it," the Algerian coach added. HOME AWAY FROM HOME

For Yemen, who do not play international matches on home soil, the tournament will also offer a ​rare opportunity to perform in front of significant numbers of their own supporters. "What we appreciate about Saudi Arabia hosting the tournament is the fans," Ould Ali said. "We do not play in ⁠Yemen and we play all our matches outside the country, so this is an opportunity for us to get a boost from the supporters."

Ould Ali joked that adapting to Jeddah should present few issues. "We have no problem adapting to Saudi Arabia. We all speak Arabic ⁠and ​we all eat mandi. Even the humidity in Aden is similar to Jeddah," he said.

Yemen face a tough Group B alongside Asian champions Qatar, holders Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, but Ould Ali said facing stronger opponents could work in his team's favour. "Personally, I like playing against teams that are ranked above us. It gives the players extra motivation to put in more effort.

"As I said, we do not ⁠host matches on our own soil, so I want the Yemeni community to help us, and in return we will try to make them happy. Their support will lift our spirits." Ould Ali also rejected ⁠the idea that Yemen would treat the Gulf Cup ⁠primarily as preparation for next year's Asian Cup, saying the regional tournament was an objective in its own right.

"That is the trap," Ould Ali said. "I told the players not to think that way. The Gulf Cup is one objective and the Asian Cup is another. The situation in the Asian Cup is ‌different. I do not have that ‌idea in my mind. I am preparing for the Gulf Cup at 400%, and only then will we ​think about Asia."

(Editing by Julien Pretot and Ed Osmond)