Kuala Lumpur: After the all-Syrian affair in the inaugural AFC Cup final in 2004, there were no sides from the West Asian country in the tournament the following year when 18 more teams took to the stage for the right to be crowned continental champions.
The 2005 edition was the first time clubs from Jordan entered the competition and it would be significant as Al Faisaly advanced all the way to the final, where they faced off against Lebanese team Nejmeh.
Early Contenders
Al Faisaly’s first fixture was a 1-1 home draw with Turkmenistan’s Nebitci Balkanabat in Amman, before a 3-0 victory over Bangladesh’s Muktijoddha Sangsad Dhaka moved the Jordanians to the top of the Group A standings alongside the Turkmens.
Back-to-back wins over India’s East Bengal Club then opened up a two-point gap at the summit and a 3-3 draw with Nebitci maintained their unbeaten start.
Al Faisaly then rounded off their group campaign with Mo’ayyad Salim scoring both goals in a 2-1 win over the bottom-placed Bangladeshis to outline their tournament credentials.
A Perfect Record
Having reached the quarter-finals the previous year before an away-goals defeat at the hands of eventual runners-up Al Wahda, Nejmeh returned in fine style in 2005.
Wins over Bangladesh’s Brothers Union Dhaka and Nisa Asgabad of Turkmenistan opened up a five-point lead at the top of Group C after just two games.
Qualification for the last eight was confirmed when Abbas Ahmed Atwi’s solitary strike against Asgabad secured top spot, before a 2-0 victory in Dhaka meant Nejmeh progressed with four wins from four, 10 points ahead of the other two sides.
West vs East
In contrast to a year earlier, the four quarter-finals saw the teams from the west take on those from the east, with both Al Faisaly and Nejmeh facing Singaporean opposition in the form of Tampines Rovers and Home United respectively.
Jordanian international striker Abdel Hadi Al Maharmeh secured a 1-0 first-leg victory for Al Faisaly over Tampines in Amman to mean they travelled east with a slender lead.
Nejmeh, meanwhile, ran out 3-0 winners in Singapore as the Beirut side put one foot in the semi-finals, before a 3-2 victory in the return fixture saw them dispose of Home United 6-2 on aggregate.
Siraj Al Tall (pictured above) scored a crucial away goal in the first half at Tampines to give Al Faisaly a 2-0 aggregate advantage and there were to be no further goals as the Amman club booked their place in the semi-finals.
The Final Four
The 2005 semi-finals pitted Al Faisaly against New Radiant of the Maldives while Nejmeh were tasked with Hong Kong’s Sun Hei.
The first legs saw a similar pattern to the previous round as Nejmeh again won 3-0 – this time at home – with Lebanese international Mohammed Ghaddar (pictured above) scoring twice, while Al Faisaly drew 1-1 in Male.
But a first-half brace from Salim put Al Faisaly well on their way in the second leg in Amman before Al Tall and Haitham Al Shboul secured a 4-1 win on the night and 5-2 on aggregate.
Taking a comfortable three-goal advantage to Hong Kong, Nejmeh fell two behind after 25 minutes, but Ali Nasseredine pulled one back immediately to leave Sun Hei needing three more and effectively kill their challenge as the Lebanese side eventually won 3-2 and 6-2 on aggregate.
Amman Awaits
The first leg of the final between Al Faisaly and Nejmeh was held at Amman International Stadium and both teams went into the match having yet to taste defeat.
Al Faisaly’s record read an impressive: played 10, won seven, drawn three, while Nejmeh were even better, having won all eight of their fixtures on the continent.
However, it was the Jordanians who opened the scoring as Khaled Saad netted in the 35th minute as the hosts took a one-goal lead into the interval.
No further goals were forthcoming after the restart as Nejmeh were left to see how they would recover from a first loss of the campaign.
Jordanian Joy
A week later in Beirut, Saad (pictured above) was again on the scoresheet as he put his side a goal to the good on 19 minutes to mean Nejmeh needed three.
Moussa Hojeji levelled before half-time but Saad’s double as the hour approached all but wrapped up proceedings, despite Hojeji equalising from the spot with just under 20 minutes to play.
There was still time for the visitors to cap their debut tournament with a winner as Hassouneh Al Sheikh scored with two minutes to go to claim a 3-2 victory on the night and 4-2 on aggregate.
The win rounded off a glorious debut tournament for Al Faisaly, who would go on to return to the 2006 and 2007 finals as they became a dominant force in the AFC Cup.
Photos: Lagardère Sports
Source: the-afc.com