Kuala Lumpur: After Kuwait SC’s win over Al Karamah of Syria in the first-ever single-legged AFC Cup final in 2009, the tournament witnessed another clash between the two nations in the decider of the 2010 edition.
This time around, Kuwait’s Qadsia SC and Syria’s Al Ittihad faced off at the brand new Jaber International Stadium in Kuwait City, in what was the first official match at the venue.
A prelude to the final
In a repeat of the previous tournament, the two finalists came from the same group in 2010 as Qadsia and Al Ittihad were both drawn in Group D, alongside Nejmeh of Lebanon and East Bengal of India.
Qadsia’s campaign began with a slight stutter that left them in third place in the group after Matchday Two following back-to-back draws at home with Nejmeh and away to Al Ittihad in Aleppo.
Mohammed Ibrahim's side then earned their first victory of the tournament when they travelled to Kolkata to face East Bengal as Bader Al Mutawa's 85th-minute winner gave them a narrow 3-2 win, before they ran out 4-1 victors in the return fixture.
Comfortable victories over Nejmeh and Al Ittihad in the two remaining ties meant that the Kuwaiti side would top the group with an unbeaten record.
Scraping through
As for Al Ittihad, their campaign got off to a fine start when Abdul Fattah Al Agha's brace set them up for a 4-1 win over East Bengal, which was followed by the aforementioned 0-0 draw with Qadsia.
The Aleppo-based club then registered another fine result with a 4-2 victory over Nejmeh, before suffering a 1-0 defeat away to the same opponents to leave them level on points with the Lebanese side after four games.
Superiority was restored when Al Ittihad defeated East Bengal 2-1 at home and although they lost 3-0 to Qadsia in the final group game, the Syrian team had done enough to progress ahead of Nejmeh on the basis of a better head-to-head record.
Gritty wins
The one-legged Round of 16 pitted Qadsia with India's Churchill Brothers. Hamed Al Enezi's (pictured above) first-half brace put Qadsia on their way to the last eight before Churchill pulled one back on the hour, but the Kuwaiti team held out to win 2-1.
Up against the defending champions Kuwait SC, Al Ittihad found themselves a goal down after half an hour, but Majed Homsi's 74th-minute strike drew parity as the game went into a penalty shootout and Al Ittihad eventually emerged as 5-4 winners.
Thai Port FC were next up for Qadsia in the quarter-finals and, after the first leg ended 0-0 in Bangkok, the Kuwaiti side registered a fine 3-0 win at home in the second leg, courtesy of goals from Al Enezi, Al Mutawa and Abdulaziz Al Mashaan.
Al Ittihad had to face yet another Kuwaiti opponent in Kazma and, following a thrilling 3-2 win in Aleppo in which Salah Shahrour scored the decisive goal, Omar Hemidi’s penalty in Kuwait City was the only goal of the game as the Syrians advanced to the semi-finals 4-2 on aggregate.
The comeback kings
Now in the business end of the tournament, both teams displayed unwavering resolve to navigate through their semi-final ties to reach their first-ever AFC Cup final.
Qadsia suffered a 2-0 loss away to Bahrain's Riffa in the first leg to give themselves a mountain to climb, but they turned the result around in style with Al Mutawa and Omar Bu Hamad scoring in the final 10 minutes in the return fixture as a 4-1 victory secured a 4-3 aggregate win.
Al Ittihad also had to come from behind against Thailand's Muangthong United to make it through to the final after losing 1-0 in the first leg in Nonthaburi.
Back in Syria and looking to avoid conceding an away goal, Al Ittihad were two up by the interval after a brace from Mohammad Al Hassan, and the 48,000 inside Aleppo International Stadium saw their side hold strong to progress to the final 2-1 on aggregate.
Return of the Syrians
The stage was thus set for the 2010 AFC Cup final in Kuwait City as the two sides faced each other for the third time in the tournament, looking to create history by clinching the title.
Al Enezi kept his scoring streak going when he gave Qadsia the lead in the 29th minute, but Taha Dyab leveled the scores after the break with a curling free-kick from distance, before both sides were reduced to 10 men after the restart.
The game ultimately headed to penalties after no further goals were scored in the 120 minutes and it was Al Ittihad who held their nerve by scoring all of their first three kicks, while Firas Al Khatib and Fahed Al Ansari missed for Qadsia.
It was then left for youngster Radwan Kalaji to score the decisive penalty past Nawaf Al Khaldi to give Al Ittihad the title as they became the first Syrian side to win the AFC Cup since Al Jaish in the inaugural edition in 2004.
To date, they remain the last team from the West Asian country to be crowned continental champions.
Photos: Lagardère Sports
Source: the-afc.com