Al Ahli edge past Al Dhafra to enter President Cup’s final

Action during the President Cup semi-finals between Al Ahli and Al Dhafra. — KT photo by Nezar Balout

Al Ahli came closer to winning their ninth President Cup’s silverware following a narrow 2-1 victory over fighting Al Dhafra in the semi-final of the prestigious competition at Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

A late-gasp strike by Luiz Jimenez earned Al Ahli a spot in the final and handed Al Dhafra a painful defeat in the dying minutes of the second extra-time of the closely contested clash.

Makhete Diop put Al Dhafra ahead in the 7^th minute and Grafite cancelled the advantage two minutes later thanks to a poor clearance by Al Dhafra keeper Abdulla Sultan for the easy shot of the Brazilian forward.

Al Dhafra forward Bandar Al Ahbabi said: “It’s sad to lose a match which we should have won. We have played a big game and I admit that I was only unlucky to miss a handful of scoring opportunities.”

However, Al Dhafra’s coach Dr. Abdulla Misfer was truly upset to see his side beaten after all this outstanding performance, but he has accepted the final outcome of the confrontation and thanked the players for the splendid effort. “Many things happened before the game. I would like to thank our keeper Abdulla Sultan. He did very well despite the only mistake that resulted in the equalizer. He’s still young and had to take over from the main keeper Mohammed Ali Ghuloom who fell sick few minutes before the kickoff,” he said. “Al Ahli players intended to waste the time and the referee gave four minutes injury time instead of seven. I think this has also contributed to our undeserved defeat,” he said. “I think we could have also scored more goals and nearly controlled the field in the second half of the regular time. But, at the end of the day it was a football game in which there’s nothing easy,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Misfer knew against whom he was playing and for this reason he started with a careful strategy to stop Al Ahli formidable trio Grafite, Ciel and Ismail Al Hammadi. Therefore, he started with Makhete Diop as clear spearhead with the helpful assistance of Roderigo who played deep besides Chafni in front of veteran Abdul Salam Jumaa to win the battle in midfield and lend a hand to the cohesive defensive line to keep Al Ahli playmakers Hugo and Jimenez under check.

“We have succeeded to a greater extent in neutralising Al Ahli’s threat,” said Al Dhafra veteran midfielder Abdul Salam Jumaa. “But in football there’s nothing perfect,” he added. “What I would like to see is that we are right on the track and there’s plenty to come from our side,” he added.