GOALKEEPER Sayed Shubbar Alawi was the hero last night as Al Khaldiya capped their dream run in the King Cup by clinching the trophy with a dramatic 4-3 win on penalties over East Riffa.
Alawi dived to his right to stave off a penalty kick by Khalifa Issa, after two East Riffa players had earlier failed to convert, sending his team-mates and a pro-Al Khaldiya crowd into raptures.
The triumph marked a meteoric rise to the top for Al Khaldiya. The club was formed less than two years ago, in October 2020 and, in their first full season in top-flight football, had become surprise finalists in Bahrain’s most prestigious football tournament.
Earlier, the final, attended by an impressive crowd that populated more than half of the 28,000-seat stadium, got off to a cautious start by both teams before Al Khaldiya upped the ante.
Suddenly, East Riffa were struggling to gain possession of the ball which ended up in their half most of the time – but at the feet of their opponents.
Al Khaldiya continued to dominate in the first half, although they were not able to make many clear cut chances at goal, with the two attempts that did materialise – courtesy Mahdi Humaidan in the 27th minute and Al Mundhir Al-Alawi four minutes later – flying wide of the mark.
Regrouping at half-time, East Riffa came back strongly in the second half, keeping the Al Khaldiya forwards at bay and challenging their defence with determined incursions into their opponent’s turf. But, try as they might, they could not get a clear shot at goal with the Al Khaldiya defenders swarming all around them.
As the clock ticked into extra-time, the scoreboard read 0-0. 30 minutes later, with both teams still scoreless, it was time for penalties.
Al Khaldiya supporters, who had banged drums and sung songs incessantly throughout the preceding two hours, now went into vocal hysterics as the penalty kicks were taken.
Before long, Al Khaldiya’s Ismail Abdullatif, Sayed Dheya Saeed, Ahmed Al Hardan and Mohammed Adel had managed to score off their spot-kicks with Mahdi Humaidan and Kameel Al Adhm failing to put their tries in the net.
East Riffa saw Hussain Al Khayat, Laith Hashim and Prince all score easily but fell behind Al Khaldiya when Abdullah Abdan and Saeed Ali Marjan hit the goal-post and shot over the goal, respectively.
It had now come to the pivotal moment where Al Khaldiya goalie Shubbar Alawi had to choose the right direction to dive in, as Khalifa Issa lined up for what turned out to be the championship-defining kick.
He made the correct decision and the Al Khaldiya team swamped him while their supporters danced and sang in the stands.
His Majesty King Hamad had deputised National Guard Commander General Shaikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa to attend the final on his behalf. Supreme Council for Youth and Sports first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa also attended the match.
Shaikh Mohammed presented the King Cup trophy to Al Khaldiya captain Ismail Abdullatif.
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