Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Kuwait City: Coach Marin Ion hailed Kuwait Sports Club’s historic third AFC Cup title following Saturday’s 2-0 win over domestic rivals Al Qadsia.
Defending champions Kuwait SC, who were appearing in their fourth AFC Cup final in five years, survived Omar Al Suma hitting the post for Al Qadsia with just over a quarter of an hour played of an evenly contested first half at Peace & Friendship Stadium.
And in the second half, Brazilian Rogerinho scored before setting up Tunisian striker Issam Jemaa to net his 16th goal of the campaign as Kuwait SC became the first side to win the competition three times.
“We congratulate all our fans with this important victory which mean that we are the team which has won the AFC Cup the most as this is our third title and the second under my leadership and I’m really proud with this achievement,” said Romanian coach Ion.
“Our next target will be to win the league title and hopefully we can keep on winning titles.”
With local pride as well as the AFC Cup title at stake, both sides were unwilling to risk too much in the opening 45 minutes with Al Suma’s 17th minute header the only real chance of note in the first half.
But after being forced onto the back-foot for the majority of first half, Kuwait SC took the lead seven minutes into the second half as Rogerinho drove unchallenged towards the Al Qadsia penalty area and beat goalkeeper Nawaf Al Khaldi with an unstoppable 30 yard strike.
And four minutes after the hour mark, Rogerinho dispossessed Al Qadsia defender Khaled Al Qahtani on the edge of the penalty area before squaring the ball for Jemaa to fire high into the net from just outside the six yard area.
Kuwait SC goalkeeper Musab Al Kandari was kept busy inside the final 20 minutes, but Al Qadsia failed to find a breakthrough to deny Kuwait SC.
“The first half of the match was conservative from the two teams and we didn’t have a good performance especially when it came to the attacking side and the ball was circulating in the midfield,” added Ion.
“In the second half, things improved and we started to create good chances with ease and quick pace and this helped us to reach the goal of Al Qadsia more and more and we created gaps in the midfield which gave us the advantage.
“The match was entertaining, especially in the second half, because the two teams opened the play and there were some chances to score.”