Al Sadd is footballing giant in Qatar; the Wolves have an incredible 65 titles to their name. This includes their latest victory tonight over El Jaish in the 2015 Emir Cup final.

A packed Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium was witness to a solid performance from Al Sadd who went into this final hoping to defend their Emir Cup crown. Ammota’s men beat El Jaish 2-1 thanks to a brace from their Brazilian marksmen, Muriqui.

The number 9 was signed last year but wasn’t able to make a huge impact this season that is, until coming up with the goods when it most counted.

The Brazilian, who holds the record for the most goals scored in the AFC Champions League, and tonight Sadd fans finally saw the potential turn into reality as he helped his side win a vital match. Sadd can now proudly claim to have a record 15 Emir Cup titles to their name.

Sadd head coach Hussein Ammota also made a bit of history himself when he achieved a rare double. He has now won two Emir Cup trophies as a coach and two as a player when he represented the Wolves earlier in his career.

At the Emir Cup press conference, Ammota had said that he believed that his team had the weapons to win this title and that proved to be the case. In the very second minute of the game, Sadd skipper Talal Al-Baloushi stole the ball from the Jaish defence and sent in a great pass to Muriqui who turned and shot it into the net to give his side the lead.

It was the best start to the match that Sadd could have hoped for. Jaish were stunned by the early strike but got back their composure and set about attacking the Sadd goal. Sadd, having got the early advantage, were now having to absorb the pressure and were playing on the counter attack.

Jaish enjoyed a sustained period of possession all the way till around the 35th minute during which they created many chances but couldn’t get that final touch necessary to unlock their opponents defence. 

Abdulgadir Ilyas, in the 20th minute having got a through-ball from teammate Romarinho, fired in a shot from the edge of the box but it was just wide of the far post.

A minute later Romarinho was at it again with a swivel and snap shot, only to see Sadd keeper Saad al-Sheeb pull off a great one-handed save to deny the Brazilian.

It was only towards the end of the first half that Sadd began to find their attacking feet. Muriqui got a chance to double his tally when Nadir Belhadj sent in a great cross but the forward could only manage to hit the ball straight at El Jaish keeper Ahmed Sufyan.

The second half saw Sadd go out and attack in the early part of the second half. The Wolves trying to push forward instead of letting Jaish do all the attacking.

Jaish brought on Mohamed Muntari in place of Ilyas as a way to try and wrestle back some attacking prowess and it worked.

However with the Soldiers pushing up, they left themselves open to the counter attack and in the 64th minute Sadd produced a strong counter attack through Muriqui who passed to Khalfan but the Qatari’s shot was again straight at the keeper.

Then just two minutes later, Sadd scored their second. The Algerian Belhadj fired in a shot on the edge of the box that was blocked by keeper Sufyan, the ball fell kindly to Muriqui who made no mistake and got his second goal of the game.

To Jaish’s credit, they didn’t give up and the wily Romarinho got one back for his team but it was too little too late as the referee blew the final whistle seconds after the consolation goal which was scored in the 93rd minute.

Jaish were also runners-up in the 2015 Qatar Cup and now they have had to endure another defeat after reaching another final. 

But no one can begrudge Sadd this title. Despite having only three days to prepare for this match, they got the early goal and then produced a rock solid performance to emerge victorious.

Sadd missed out on the QSL title but this Emir Cup triumph ensured that they ended the domestic football season on a high.