Doha: Defending champions El Jaish and Lekhwiya will clash in tomorrow’s all-Qatari final of the 17th Asian Clubs League Championship here at the Ali Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah Sports Hall in Al Sadd.
In yesterday’s semi-finals, both the Qatari clubs overcame their Kuwaiti opponents to set up the title clash.
In the first semi-final, Lekhwiya defeated Al Kuwait Club of Kuwait 33-30 in a closely contested match, while in the second title holders El Jaish coasted to an emphatic 38-29 win over Al Qurain Sporting Club of Kuwait.
Lekwhiya goalkeeper Branimir Boucek played a crucial role in his team’s win.
Boucek made several key saves, specially in second-half, including a penalty from Kuwait team’s prolific scorer Mohamed Al Gharaballi with 10 minutes to go for the final whistle.
“You can say that the whole team was hero today. The match was so close. Just before the close, it was difficult to think who would be the winner,” said the goalkeeper.
“We all played like one unit and yeah…I’m relieved that we have been able to reach the first final of any international championship.
“We expected a difficult match as the Kuwait team was quite strong. Match after match we played with full energy and tried to do our best. Let us see what happens in the final,” he added.
In the second match, Al Qurain took an early lead but El Jaish bounced backed and there was no looking back.
“We played a good game against a strong team, and in spite of what the final score indicates, that was not an easy game. After we played so strong in the semi-final, we are confident for the final,” El Jaish’s Ahmed El Ahmar said.
Meanwhile, Al Gharafa, the third club from Qatar, won 35-32 Al Khalij Club of Saudi Arabia and earned the right to meet Manyazium Ferdows of Iran in a fifth and sixth place match.
Earlier in the day, Al Salt Club of Jordan defeated Ahli Sadab 39-25 of Oman. The winless Omani club thus finished at the bottom of the table.
The Peninsula
