Al Ain, UAE-Joyous fans received their heroes as Al Ain claimed the Asian Champions league trophy for the second time turning the city of Al Ain into a festival of the teams colors; purple and white. Al Ain after losing the first leg 2-1 in the Yas Arena to Yokohama F Marinos of Japan, came back strongly into the second leg match and won 5-1 to carry a 6-3 aggregate win.
A Remarkable Journey
This was a great victory for Al Ain who had defeated some of the top teams of the region; and including the current club of Cristiano Ronaldo, the Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia. Speaking about the feelings at the time of victory the 34 years man Mohammed Al Kaabi said.
“I knew the team was crowned champions after we scored our third goal, but I cried when the final whistle was blown. ” she said when reached for comment in The National.
Tradition of Support
Al Kaabi is a life long support of this club, and to watch his preferred team he flew to Saudi Arabia for watching the games of quarter-final and semi-final against Al Nassr and Al Hilal respectively. His family always goes to Al Ain’s home matches as it is in their culture.
“I had a dream two nights before that we would win,” Al Kaabi added to this. By and large, I will always remember the trip The players went all out, but the fans were the key to this success.
Historic Achievement
Mohammed Saif Al Ketbi opined that this victory was sweeter that the initial win recorded in the year 2003.
“It is the biggest joy we’ve had,” Al Ketbi said in an interview on OLX for the Club’s achievement. “Needless to say, we had a poor performance in the local league, replaced the coach, besides several players were injured, however, today we are the proud of champions of Asia. ”
Shared Joy and Unity
Speaking to the National, 28-year-old Emad Sowan from Jordan, who was born in Al Ain, said watching the final was a matter of pride and great happiness.
“I was trembling during the match especially when they were scoring a goal, but it eventually culminated to joyously when the referee blew the whistle to signal the end of the match,” he said. “For many it was like watching a carnival in the streets and around the stadium. ”
Al Ain’s victory is a good example of a team that did not give up, and fans’ support as well as this is one of the key moments in the development of football in the UAE.
