AL SHABAB 3 SAHAM 1
Al Shabab - Villanueva 32', Dahi 35', 58' Saham - Jauhar 44'
Red cards - Qassim (Al Shabab)
Man of the match - Sulaiman Al Bariki (Al Shabab)
4-4 on aggregate; Saham win 5-4 on penalties
DUBAI // Al Shabab's hopes of salvaging their season in the GCC Club Cup Championship came to naught Tuesday night, despite a strong effort that saw the Dubai club force the game into extra time before the Omani club Saham won 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out.
Winners by 3-1 at home in the first leg of the semi-final last week, Saham scored a crucial away goal a minute before the break after Carlos Villanueva and Esam Dahi had given Shabab a 2-0 lead, but Dahi struck for a second time to make it 3-1 for Shabab in the 58th minute and level the aggregate score at 4-4.
Five minutes before Dahi’s second of the night, Shabab were reduced to 10 men following Mahmoud Qassim’s second booking, but with Saham unable to take advantage of their numerical superiority in regulation time, and missing a penalty in the second minute of injury time, the tie had to be decided on penalties. The Omani goalkeeper Sulaiman Al Bariki made two stops to take his team into the final.
Saham now await the winner of the second semi-final, where Al Nasr meet another Omani club, Al Nahda, in the second leg in Dubai tonight. The first leg in Muscat last week ended 1-1.
“Nobody expected our team to progress beyond the group stages to reach the final,” said Abdulrazzak Khairy, the Saham coach.
“So we have done a really great job and I congratulate everyone involved. Let’s hope we can go on to win the final as well.
“This is a really good result for Omani football. In 25 years, no Omani team has won the title. So let’s hope we have an all-Oman final.”
For Shabab, who slipped from second to finish fourth in the Arabian Gulf League standings after managing two points from their last six games, it was a disappointing end to the season, but coach Marcos Paqueta was pleased with the way his players fough.
“I want to congratulate my players,” he said.
“They showed a lot of courage and fought a lot, even after we lost one player.
“So while I am not happy with our exit from the tournament, I am really pleased with the effort of the players and their attitude tonight.”
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Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
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