All eyes turn to Muharraq Stadium tonight as three-time champions Kuwait SC face home side Muharraq Club in the 2021 AFC Cup West Zonal Final, with the winners booking a place in the competition’s showpiece final next month.
Both sides will be looking to revive past glories, with Muharraq having won the AFC Cup in 2006 and finishingrunners-up in 2008. Meanwhile, Kuwait SC enjoyed the best spell in the club’s history between 2009 and 2013, winning three AFC Cup titles in that period and losing a final.
Despite their illustrious history in the competition, the two clubs have never played each other on the continental front, their only meeting coming two decades ago in the regional GCC Club Championship, with Muharraq winning 2-0.
Kuwait SC hold a heavy advantage in their head-to-head matches against Bahraini clubs in the AFC Cup, having won five of their seven encounters against clubs from the island. On the other hand, tonight’s clash is the first for Muharraq against any Kuwaiti club.
The Kuwait Premier League season gets underway in November, but Kuwait SC have had a successful run to the final of the Kuwait Amir Cup in September, beating Al Sahel SC, Khaitan, Kazma and Al Jahra to reach December’s final against archrivals Al Qadsia.
Going into the penultimate challenge of the continental campaign, Muharraq have had a disappointing start to their league campaign, finding themselves bottom of the table with one point from three games, having started with a draw against Khalidiyah before losing back-to-back games against Riffa SC and East Riffa.
While big name signings led by former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel and Australian international defender Ryan McGowan stole the headlines in Kuwait City, it is homeboy Faisal Al Harbi who continues to make the difference. The 30-year-old playmaker contributed three goals and two assists in the 2021 AFC Cup, also creating a total of 11 chances for his teammates.
A common factor between the two West Zonal Finalists is losing their 2021 AFC Cup top scorer.
Muharraq’s Ismael Abdullatif impressed in the group stage, netting twice before making a summer switch to Khalidiyah, while Kuwait SC’s summer spree saw them replace Tunisian forward Ahmed Akaichi with DR Congo’s Dieumerci Mbokani despite the former’s tally of four goals in the continental competition.
In the absence of Abdullatif, it is his fellow Bahraini international Abdulwahab Al Malood who will be tasked with creating the magic up front for Muharraq. Al Malood leads his side’s assists charts with four goals created and has overall created four times as many chances as any of his teammates this campaign (16).
Meanwhile, Bahrain Football Association president Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa visited the Muharraq team members during a training session at Busaiteen Club Stadium yesterday.
Shaikh Ali praised the players’ performance in the tournament and wished them success in tonight’s clash with Kuwait SC.
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