Gulf Club Championship: A Chance to Shine

As the UAE football community focuses on tonight and tomorrow’s AFC Champions League fixtures involving Emirati sides, the participation of three Etisalat Pro-League teams in the Gulf Clubs Championship has gone largely unnoticed. Unlike the Champions League it is a competition that has seen success for our clubs in recent years with Al Jazira winning in 2007 and Al Wasl claiming last year’s edition of the tournament. For those of you unfamiliar with the competition twelve teams from the Arabian Gulf are divided into four groups with the winners of each progressing to the semi-finals. Two games were played last night with Dhofar of Oman beating Al Kharitiyat of Qatar 2-1 and Al Riffa Club from Bahrain emerging as 1-0 victors versus Al Salmiyah from Kuwait. The three clubs representing the UAE this year are Al Ahli, Al Dhafra and Al Shabab.

Al Ahli are the first representatives to get started in the tournament when they take on Al Arabi from Kuwait in the Sabah Al Salem Stadium at 7.20pm this evening. Al Ahli will certainly want to do well in this tournament and give their fans something to cheer about as they are currently trailing in the league and are out of both cup competitions. Their Kuwaiti opponents finished 5^th in their league last season and were the inaugural winners of the Gulf Clubs Championship back in 1982.

Kicking off in Qatar at 7.30pm tonight, Al Dhafra will also play a club named Al Arabi. Despite being tenth in the league, the team from Madinat Zayed have decided to enter themselves into the tournament though many will be pessimistic about their chances of making an impact. Their opponents tonight currently sit in second place in the Qatar Stars League and will undoubtedly provide a difficult challenge to Al Dhafra.

Al Shabab’s campaign does not begin until 15^th March when they travel to Kuwait to play Al Salmiyah. Semi-finalists in both the Etisalat Cup and the President’s Cup there is the prospect that Al Shabab could complete a unique treble if they are successful domestically and in the Gulf Club Championship. The team from Dubai will be looking to redeem themselves following last year’s performance in which they only managed one point.

While the Gulf Club Championship does not have the publicity or glamour of the Champions League it certainly provides an opportunity for UAE sides to have another chance of getting their hands on silverware. Not only do players gain much needed experience but trips away from home increase team spirit and give teams the chance to play alternative opposition. Hopefully we will see a team from the Emirates with their hands on the trophy by the end of the season.