Come Friday, 26th March, and Al Sailiya will match up with Al Rayyan in the final of 2020-21 season Ooredoo Cup. The kick-off is at 17:00 at the Al Sadd Stadium.

Al Sailiya reached the final despite losing in the first semifinal played on 20th March to Al Wakrah by a 0-3 margin after disciplinary action was taken against the latter for fielding an ineligible player.

The Qatar Football Association’s (QFA) Disciplinary Committee overturned that result and instead awarded Al Sailiya a 3-0 victory while imposing a fine of QR10,000 on Al Wakrah following an appeal made by Al Sailiya against Jassim Al Jalabi taking the field as a substitute. The verdict came in accordance with Article No. 61/E of disciplinary regulations.

Omar Ali (26th and 82nd minutes) and Mohamed Benyettou (41st-minute penalty) had scored the goals for Al Wakrah.

On the other hand, Al Rayyan made it to the final by beating Al Gharafa by an identical 3-0 margin in the second semifinal on 21st March.

Ivorian spearhead Yohan Boli (18th and 36th minutes) and Mohammed Juma Al Alawi (57th minute) scored the goals as Al Rayyan had the last laugh when two traditional rivals with plenty of achievements in Qatar football and passionate fan base faced off.

Al Sailiya qualified for the semifinals by defeating Al Arabi 5-4 in sudden death (2-2 after regular time and 4-4 after tie-breaker).

Al Rayyan reached the semifinals by edging Al Khor 1-0.

Al Sailiya and Al Rayyan progressed to the knockout quarterfinals as the third teams from Group A and B with eight and seven points respectively.

Players doing national duty for various countries will be missing in action on either side in the title clash.

Al Sailiya boast of the likes of Mohanad Ali, Tiago Bezzera, Ahmed Hammoudan, Majdi Siddiq, Nadir Belhadj, Mostafa Mohammed, Serigne Mbodji and goalkeeper Claude Amine.

Al Rayyan too have players of calibre, such as Yacine Brahimi, Franck Kom, Ahmed Abdelmaqsoud, Gabriel Mercado, Mohammed Alaaeldin, Abdulrahman Al Harazi and goalkeeper Fahad Younis.

Coaches Sami Trabelsi of Al Sailiya and Laurent Blanc of Al Rayyan will surely keep their wards on top of readiness and it remains to be seen which side will save its best for the last!