Saturday 23 / November / 2024
Muscat: On Thursday evening when the champion of 2022-23 His Majesty’s Cup Football Championship will be crowned, a piece of history will be scripted by either of the finalists – Seeb and Al Nahda.
Defending champions Seeb will become only the second domestic club in the 21st century to have successfully defended the title while for Al Nahda, it will be their maiden title if they manage to get past the AFC Cup winners.
Seeb will be hoping to emulate record-winning Dhofar’s feat of defending the crown (2019-20 and 2020-2021) on Thursday at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex against a title-hungry Al Nahda side. The match kicks off at 7.30pm. Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi will be the chief guest and give away the trophy.
Only once, since 2000, has a club managed to retain the coveted HM’s Cup football title in its long history of the tournament, which began in 1972.
Four-time winners Seeb, coached by former national team coach Rasheed Jaber, will be eyeing their fifth trophy to join the exclusive club of Ahli-Sidab and Al Nasr, who have won five titles each.
Dhofar with ten trophies hold the record of most titles and are closely followed by Fanja with nine crowns. Standing between Seeb’s dreams of a five-peat are Al Nahda, who have been in a roaring form this season and chasing their first title. The club have been three times unlucky in the summit clash as they lost to Al Suwaiq in 2008-09 and in 2012-13 and then to Fanja in 2013-14 for two back-to-back defeats in the final.
Coached by Hamed Al Azani, the Buraimi Governorate club, have displayed impressive form and are currently on top of the Omantel top-flight league.
Seeb will be banking on experience as they have a host of national team players - Salah Al Yahyaei, Eid Al Farsi, Mohammed Al Musallami, Abdulaziz Al Maqbali, Ali Al Busaidi and Mohsin Al Ghassani.
Coach Jaber admitted that his side have the “experience of playing more finals and may hold a slight edge.” “The final is going to be a tough affair. It will come down to small details. I have confidence in my boys and they have the experience of playing big games,” he said.
Seeb edged past Al Suwaiq in the double-leg semi-finals with a 3-0 scoreline while Al Nahda progressed into the final after defeating Al Rustaq 1-0 on aggregate in the other semi-final.
Nahda coach Azani sounded confident of his men lifting the cup. “We have missed it on three occasions. Our boys are hungry to win it and I am hopeful that we will come on top against a strong and experienced Seeb side. We have a golden opportunity to break the final jinx. Hopefully, the fourth attempt will be successful,” said Azani.
Nahda will be relying on their goalie, Ibrahim Al Mukhaini, who was adjudged the best shot-stopper at the 25th Gulf Cup in Basra, Iraq. The club also have national team players in Ahmed Al Kaabi, talented striker Al Mundher Al Alawi and Mansoor Al Nuaimi.
Prior to 2000, there have been six occasions when four clubs have managed to retain the title.
The earliest accomplishment was recorded by Fanja when they won back-to-back titles in 1975 and 1976. Dhofar achieved it for the first time in 1980 and 1981 while Ahli-Sidab registered the first hat-trick of titles from 1982-84, an achievement that was emulated by Fanja (1985-88) and Seeb (1996-98).
