Who’s in, who’s out: 2021 AFC Cup West Zonal Semi-finals squads revealed

Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Who’s in, who’s out: 2021 AFC Cup West Zonal Semi-finals squads revealed

Kuala Lumpur: It is down to four teams in the west as the 2021 AFC Cup reaches the West Zonal Semi-finals and between them, Muharraq Club, Al Ahed, Kuwait SC and Al Salt have made changes since the group stage ended back in May.

Reigning champions Al Ahed did not sit on their laurels, instead getting busy in the market while Al Salt largely retained the squad that achieved a historic knockout stage qualification on their debut AFC Cup campaign.

Kuwait SC signalled their intent with some high-profile signings and 2008 AFC Cup winners Muharraq Club will hope their acquisitions make up for the loss of their talismanic captain.

Muharraq Club (BHR)

In: Mahmoud Al Mardi, Noor Al Rawabdeh, Flavio Cheveresan, Yusuf Hasan, Moses Jona, Rashed Al Hooti.
Out: Abdulrahman Barakat, Ismaeel Abdulatif, Jhonnattann da Conceicao, Ahmed Khalid, Fares Arnaout, Yusuf Al Shaikh, Ahmed Al Sherooqi, Tiago Real, Mahmood Mukhtar.
Foreign Players: Mahmoud Al Mardi (JOR), Noor Al Rawabdeh (JOR), Flavio Cheveresan (BRA), Moses Jona (NIG)

It was a busy transfer market at Muharraq Club where coach Isa Al Hamdani replaced all his foreign players and brought in a number of local players, while talisman and Bahrain’s all-time top scorer Ismael Abdullatif departed in a shock move to newly promoted Al Khalidiyah Club.