Emirati football has returned to the forefront of the Asian scene again, with a historic qualification to the AFC Champions League final through the Al Ain team, after overcoming the obstacle of the most prominent candidates for the title, the Saudi team Al Hilal, after defeating them on aggregate in the two semi-final matches (5-4), despite His loss in the return match, the day before yesterday, (2-1). This is the fourth time that Al Ain has reached the final, after 2003, when it won the title, 2005, when it lost to Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia, and 2016, when it lost to Jeonbuk, South Korea.
Al Ain overturned all expectations in the current season, as it surpassed three Saudi clubs that it faced in one edition, which was the first time for Al Ain. The beginning was with Al Fayhaa in the group stage, as it won the first leg in Al Ain (4-1) and the second leg in the Saudi capital, Riyadh (3-2). Then, Al-Nassr, led by Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, and Senegalese player Sadio Mane met in the quarter-finals, winning the first leg in Al Ain (1-0), and losing the second leg (4-3), but won the qualification card after winning on penalties.
In the semi-finals, Al Hilal faced Saudi Arabia, which includes big stars such as Senegalese Coulibaly, as well as Saudi Salem Al Dosari, while Brazilian Neymar and Serbian Mitrovic were absent due to injury. Al Ain won the first leg at home with a score of (4-2) to stop Al Hilal’s streak of consecutive victories at 34 victories, then lost the second leg (2-1) in Riyadh to qualify for the final match. Al-Ain star Sufyan Rahimi shone remarkably against Al-Nasr and Al-Hilal, and contributed greatly to the qualification.
For his part, the technical expert at the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), Abdullah Hassan, said: “Al-Ain’s victory over three Saudi clubs in the current season represents a great success for a club that knew how to make plans and adhere to them to achieve goals, and choose the formation for each match that matches its goals. Players’ potential.
He told Emirates Today: “The dismissal of Dutch coach Alfred Schroeder, and the use of Argentine Hernan Crespo, was the turning point in the club’s journey,” and he added: “Schroeder’s competence is not in doubt, but the Dutch coaches focus on building teams, and that takes time.” While Al Ain this season wanted to go far in the Champions League.”
He stressed that “what distinguished Al Ain most in the current version was its display of the hero’s character,” and explained: The method he followed during the quarter and semi-finals demonstrated the ability of Al Ain players to be creative even when changing their positions.
It is noteworthy that the classification of UAE clubs moved from fourth to third, thanks to Al Ain’s qualification to the final, which increases the number of UAE seats in the Asian championships for next season, by two and a half seats in the first edition of the elite tournament, in addition to a direct seat in the “AFC Champions League” in its new form.
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