Muscat: Seeb imprinted Oman football's name in the history of the AFC Cup as they registered a 3-0 win over Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur City FC in the final clash on Saturday. With the historic triumph, Oman’s representatives lifted the coveted cup after a long journey in the Asian competition.
At Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur city, Ali al Busaidi, Abdulaziz al Maqbali and Mohsin al Ghassani scored the winning goals to deliver Seeb the first-ever AFC Cup glory.
After the match, the champion players were awarded the gold medals and Seeb captain received the AFC Cup trophy. The celebrations started after the podium ceremony among Seeb players and Omani fans who were present in the stadium. Seeb and Omani fans celebrated in Muscat as well after the historic accomplishment for the Seeb club.
Seeb's national experienced head coach Rasheed Jaber started with a line-up featuring Ahmed al Rawahi as goalkeeper. Ali al Busaidi headed the defence accompanied by Juma al Habsi, Mohammed al Musalami, Hassan al Ajmi and Mohammed al Habsi. The middle line consisted of Ajibola, Salah al Yahyaei, Eid al Farsi and Mohsin al Ghassani with Abdulaziz al Maqbali, the lone forward.
Seeb began the match strongly as they pressed hard towards Malaysian goalkeeper Mendoza seeking for an opening goal. On the other side, the hosts Kuala Lumpur City FC’s took the advantage of the first quarter with large fans support as the forwards were looking for a leading goal.
In the 18th minute, a golden opportunity for Kuala Lumpur City FC’s Zhafri Yahya was saved by Seeb’s defender. Four minutes later, Oman national team player Ali al Busaidi netted the opening goal for Seeb from a corner. This goal gave the lead for Oman’s representative and encouraged the players to score more goals in the coming minutes. In the 37th minute, Abdulaziz al Maqbali doubled Seeb's lead through a header after a perfect assist and cross from Salah al Yahyaei. The first half ended with Seeb leading at 2-0.
Coach Rasheed Jaber introduced Ahmed al Siyabi in the second half as replacement of Mohammed al Habsi. Later, the Malaysian players started their scoring attempts to reduce the gap and Paulo Jose missed a free kick in the 56th minute which was saved by Seeb goalie Ahmed al Rawahi. Australian referee Shaun Evans showed a yellow card for the Malaysian player Galifuoco after his strong interference with Mohsin al Ghassani in the 57th minute.
After a period of playing smart football, Seeb’s efforts paid dividends when Mohsin al Ghassani converted a scoring attempt into a third goal in the 69th minute.
Seeb goalkeeper Ahmed al Rawahi continued his top show as he saved another Malaysian scoring attempt in the 73th minute. As the match was approaching towards the end, Paulo Jose and his team-mates were still seeking for their first goal to reduce the scoring gap but all their attempts faltered at the strong Seeb defence and an agile goalkeeper. Four minutes added as an additional time but the result remained the same as Seeb ended the fixture at 3-0.
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