Al Sadd, led by Basque coach Juan Manuel Lillo, qualified for the final of the Qatar Cup after beating Al Arabi 3-1 in the first semifinal in a game with three dismissals.
South Korean Jung Woo-young (m.43), Algerian Baghdad Bounedjah (m.46+) and Musab Khidir (m.79) signed Al Sadd’s victory, with Asturian Santi Cazorla, 38 , as the headline.
Ahmed Al-Hamawende (m.41) and the Catalan Marc Muniesa (m.63) at Al Arabi and Tarek Salman at Al Sadd (m.54) were sent off.
Lillo’s team will play in the final against Argentine coach Hernán Crespo’s Al Duhail, who failed in the final between Spanish coaches by beating Catalan Barolomé ‘Tintín’ Márquez’s Al Wakrah 2-1.
Márquez fell in the semifinals
Although Márquez’s side took the lead after a quarter of an hour through Mohamed Benyettou’s goal, Al Duhail turned the game around. Kenyan Michael Olunga equalized early in the second half and Korean Nam Tae-Hee scored the game-winner in the 73rd minute.
Al Sadd is, with eight, the team with the most trophies in the Qatar Cup and will face Al Duhail for the fourth time in a row in the decisive match of the competition. In the two previous finals, Al Sadd took the title, while in the first it was won by Al Duhail, who has three in his record.
For Lillo, this will be the first final in Qatar since he arrived at Al Sadd in July 2022.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
