SPORT Wednesday 16 May 2018 PAGE | 26 PAGE | 27 Atletico bid to Bounedjah erase pain of dedicates win to past finals Al Sadd fans Ruthless Al Duhail thrash UAE’s Al Ain CHINTHANA WASALA from outside the box, but an Al THE PENINSULA Ahli player blocked the shot. Mohamed picked it on the DOHA: Youssef El Arabi rebound and made a long cross yesterday scored twice to take his to El Arabi who was perfectly overall tally to nine goals in this placed near the goalpost. El Arabi season’s AFC Champions League made no mistake as he beat the as Qatari giants Al Duhail stormed goalkeeper as he celebrated his into the quarter-finals of the eighth goal of the season with his continent’s biggest football event signature ‘pulling-the-trigger’ for clubs. pose. Hosts Al Duhail yesterday Mohamed almost added maintained their unbeaten streak another goal for the Al Duhail with a brilliant 4-1 win over UAE’s during injury time of the first half, Al Ain to join Al Sadd as the but the ball slipped past the right second Qatar club to reach the side of the goalpost. last-eight stage of the AFC Cham- In the 54th minute, Sultan Al pions League. Brake shot from outside the box At the Abudullah Bin Khalifa but Al Ain’s Eisa managed to get Stadium in Doha yesterday, a his hands on it inside the box. double from El Arabi (30 and 86, However, his effort made no penalty) and a goal from Ismail impact as Mohammad managed Mohammad (54) helped coach to shoot into the net from very Djamel Belmadi’s men advance close range to the high centre of with a clear 8-3 aggregate. Al the goal to make it 3-0 in favour Duhail’s fourth strike was an own of the home team. goal by Al Ain’s Mohamed Ahmad El Arabi scored his second (12). goal of the day by converting a Omar Abdulrahman scored penalty. the only goal for the visitors after Al Ain’s Mohanad Salem converting a penalty (90 +4). Ghazy was shown the yellow card Yesterday’s double strike saw for a hand ball infringement in El Arabi join Al Sadd’s Bhagdad Al Duhail’s players celebrate with a team official after winning their AFC Champions League Round of 16 Second leg match againstl A the penalty area and El Arabi beat Bounedjah as the top scorers of Ain at the Abudullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha yesterday. the goalkeeper with ease to take Asia’s premier football tour- the goal aggregate to 8-2. nament this year. Both have a time when the home team was target with a shot to the right. left wing and managed to evade the ball’s direction with a diving He Almost scored a hat-trick found the net nine times each. pressing hard for an early In the third minute, Amine several Al Ain players and shot kick. However, Ahmed failed to five minutes later when he shot Yesterday’s win also saw Al breakthrough. Lecomte won Al Duhail’s second from the left corner of the box make amends as Al Duhail from the centre of the box after Duhail remaining the only Just after the kick-off, El free kick in the defensive half but into the net. Al Ain goalkeeper scored their first goal through an receiving a cross from unbeaten team in this year’s AFC Arabi won a free kick on the left it was Tae-Hee who drew the first Khalid Eisa missed and the ball own goal. Mohammad following a fast Champions League. wing but South Korean star and blood. was on its way into the net In the 30th minute, Tae-hee break, but the ball flew close to Al Duhail’s first goal came at team-mate Tae-hee missed the Tae-hee dribbled from the before Ahmad tried to change produced his first shot at the goal the Al Ain goalpost. Kuldeep shines Khalifa International Stadium gets set as Kolkata down for season’s biggest football spectacle Rajasthan AGENCIES THE PENINSULA kick-off time to avoid missing out on the action. KOLKATA: Left-arm wrist DOHA: The Organising Committee Al Kuwari announced that an spinner Kuldeep Yadav of the Amir Cup have completed Iftar party will be held for the fans starred with an impressive their preparations for the final and organisers at the Qatar four-wicket haul as he which will be played on May 19. Women’s Sports Hall. The stadium guided Kolkata Knight Riders The grand final will be played gates will be opened at 6.45pm. The (KKR) to a comfortable six- between Al Rayyan and Al Duhail. activities will start off before the Iftar wicket win over Rajasthan Abdullah Al Saai, Tournament time. Royals in their Indian Director of Amir Cup, Captain Al Kuwari pointed out that the Premier League match in Abdullah Al Ghanim of Lekhwiya, gates of the number 22-23-24- Kolkata yesterday. and Khalid Mubarak Al Kuwari, 25-26 were allocated to the fans Kuldeep (4/20) flum- Director of Marketing and Commu- of Al Rayyan while gates 2-3-4- moxed Rajasthan Royals nication of Qatar Football Associ- 5-29 were allocated to the fans of batsmen with his wrist spin ation (QFA), revealed the details at Al Duhail. Gates 11-16 as the visitors were bowled a press conference held at Khalifa are for families and out for 142 from 19 overs International Stadium. gate 12 for people with after being sent into bat. Abdullah Al Saai said the special needs. KKR chased down the arrangements for the final have He also small target with two overs been completed with just a few informed that FROM RIGHT: Khalid Mubarak Al Kuwari, Director of Marketing and Communication of Qatar to spare with Chris Lynn top details remain which will be com- eight luxury cars Football Association (QFA), Abdullah Al Saai, Tournament Director of Amir Cup and Abdullah Al scoring with a 42-ball 45 pleted in the coming hours. He said and 250 other val- Ghanim, Head of the Internal Security Forces at Lekhwiya, addressing the media during a press while skipper Dinesh Karthik the Amir Cup always attracts huge uable prizes will conference in Doha. remaining not out on 41 off attention from football fans in Qatar. be distributed to 31 deliveries. Karthik took his He said Al Duhail and Al Rayyan the winners side home with a six as KKR will be training at the match venue through the draw reached 145 for 4 in 18 overs. the day before the final, followed to be held at half Earlier, Kuldeep took by a pre-match press conferences. time of the final. four wickets to help Kolkata He also said that the ticket sale was The match kicks Knight Riders recover from going well. off at 9.45pm. a powerplay blitz by Al Ghanim, head of the Internal Rajasthan Royals opener Jos Security Forces at Lekhwiya, said Buttler (39) and skittle them that special arrangements have out for a low score in a been made for the upcoming final. crunch clash at the Eden He pointed out that there is a com- Gardens. prehensive traffic plan to avoid congestion on the roads leading to Brief scores: the stadium. Rajasthan Royals: 142 all Al Ghanim urged the crowd to out in 19 overs (Jos Buttler 39, come to the stadium well before the Kuldeep Yadav 4/20, Andre Russell 2/13, Prasidh Krishna 2/35) The Amir Cup Kolkata Knight Riders: 145/4 in 18 overs: (Chris Lynn 45, sunil Narine 21, N Rana 21, Qatar’s iconic Khalifa International Stadium Dinesh Karthik 41 not out) 26 SPORT WEDNESDAY 16 MAY 2018 Atletico bid to erase pain of past finals in Marseille battle AFP title success in 2014, but could heroes because nobody else has Antoine Griezmann is hopeful soon be on his way to done it since,” Dimitri Payet LYON: After painful defeats in this time it’s his turn to lift Barcelona. said. recent continental finals, Diego the trophy. Griezmann and Diego Costa “We know how tough it is. Simeone’s Atletico Madrid are will lead Simeone’s attack as Of course, that’s an added determined to justify their status Atletico return to Lyon, where source of motivation, and if we as favourites in today’s Europa they lost 3-0 to Dynamo Kiev in do win the final, our names will League showpiece against the final of the now defunct Cup be written into the club’s history Marseille in Lyon. Winners’ Cup in 1986. books forever.” Atletico lost in extra time to Atletico have had plenty of Only around 11,500 of their Real Madrid in the Champions heartbreak in European finals fans will officially be in League final of 2014, having down the years, as have attendance, however, but been seconds away from victory Marseille. several thousand more should in 90 minutes, and then lost on The French club have pre- make the three-hour trip to penalties to their city rivals in viously appeared in four, losing Lyon. the final of the same compe- three, the exception being their Authorities are preparing for tition two years later. victory over AC Milan in the the threat of trouble, with a big An exit from this season’s inaugural Champions League rivalry developing in recent Champions League in the group final in 1993. years between Marseille and stage came as a big surprise for Rudi Garcia’s team were not Lyon.