For 3rd time, Al Ain oversteps El Jaish to the AFC Final
Al Ain football team managed to qualify for the AFC Champions League final for the third time in its history after a 2-2 draw with Qatar’s El Jaish in the semifinals second-leg.
Al Ain’s 2 goals were scored by Omar Abdurrahman and Mohamed Abdurrahman in 57th and 90+5th minutes respectively; while El Jaish’s 2 goals were accredited to a brace by the Brazilian Romarinho in 67th and 80th minutes.
Following their 3-1 first-leg win at HBZ Stadium, Al Ain was outweighed by a total tally of 5 goals against 3 by El Jaish to play the final.
To know their rivals, Al Ain has to wait for the result of the game combining both South Korean teams: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and FC Seoul whose first-leg ended 4-1 for the former.
It’s worth mentioning that Al Ain was crowned champions of 2003 AFC Champions League after beating the Thai BEC Tero Sasana but lost the 2005 title to Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia.
Al Ain Lineup
Khalid Issa, Ismail Ahmad, Mohannad Al Enezi, Fawzi Fayez, Mohamed Fayez, Amer Abdurrahman, Lee Myung-Joo, Ahmad Berman, Caio Lucas, Omar Abdurrahman, Danilo Asprilla.
El Jaish Lineup
Khalifa Ababacar, Murad Naji, Lucas Mendes, Sardor Rashidov, Majed Mohamed, Abdurrahman Abker, Ali Sanad, Seydou Keita, Ahmad Moein, Mohamed Abdurrab, Romarinho.
Substitutions
Al Ain Mohamed Abdurrahman, Douglas Dyanfres and Saeed Al Menhali came on for Danilo Asprilla, Amer Abdurrahman and Mohamed Fayez
El Jaish Mohamed Al Mothnani, Yasser Issa and Hamza Al Sanhaji replaced Ahmad Moein, Ali Sanad and Majed Mohamed
Referees
The game was officiated by a crew of Saudi referees led by Fahd Al Merdasi Adwan, Official Referee, assisted by 2 assistant referees: Abdulla Al Shalwi, Mohamed Makki Al Bakri and Fourth Official, Sayyed Abdulla (Oman); Hwang Sung (China) Match Commissioner; Abdurrahman Abdulkhaleq (Bahrain), Referee Observer; Dr. Rashid Al Tunisi (KSA), Medical Officer; Lozanov Bafil (Kyrgyzstan), Match Manager; Ahmad Omar (Qatar), Technical Supervisor.
