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Al Shabab's three expatriates help them to capture the trophy

 

A last minute goal scored by Brazilian striker Jociel Ferreira Da Silva "Ciel" helped Al Shabab to win the Etisalat Cup for the first time following their 3-2 victory over their contenders Al Ain in the final match played on Friday April 29 at Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi-based Al Jazira Club.

The match was a golden chance for both teams to come out of this season with silverware after they were knocked out of the President's Cup and dashed their hopes in the Etisalat Pro-League Championship. But Al Shabab played brilliantly in the second Round of the Etisalat Pro-League competition to take third position on 28 points while Al Ain, who are taking 10th place with 15 points, are still fighting hard to avoid relegation with five weeks to go in addition to a postponed encounter in hand against Al Ahli due to be played on May 8.

 Al Ain will play three away difficult games in the forthcoming weeks against Al Dhafra, Kalba who are both facing relegation and Al Shabab. They will also host Al Wasl and league leaders Al Jazira in other two tough games, and during the league break, which will come to an end on May 15, they are to take on Seoul of South Korea in an away encounter before they host Nagoya Grampus of Japan on May 4 and 11 respectively in the 2011 AFC Champions League.

Al Ain revived their hopes in the continental competition after defeating Hangzhou Greentown with a solitary goal at Tahnoun Bin Mohammed Stadium in Qattara before a couple of days.

In their last Etisalat Cup final match, Al Ain and Al Shabab played brilliantly and demonstrated a balanced and neat football that was full of hard work. Days before the match, Al Shabab's Brazilian coach Paulo Bonamego said that playing at Mohammed Bin Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi was not fair for his team as more of Al Ain's spectators have the chance to attend the match and cheer up their team. "The final should be played on a neutral venue", Bonamego declared.

On the other hand Al Shabab have a good opportunity to qualify to the GCC Champions League quarterfinals. They will host Al Salmiyah of Kuwait on Tuesday this week at Maktoum Bin Rashid Stadium in Dubai before they leave for Bahrain to face Al Riffa. A win against the Kuwaiti side will see them on top of Group "A".

The Etisalat Cup final was not only a big game between two competing teams to snatch the trophy, but it was also a big challenge between two Brazilian coaches who faced each other earlier many times when they were playing for their home country teams. Both coaches worked hard prior to the game and prepared their squads thoroughly well and put them in a good technical and physical shape. But it was Al Shabab who lifted up the trophy with the help of their three professional players Julio Cesar, Villanueva and Jociel Da Silva (Ciel). The three expatriates made a lot of work and were the main source of danger to the rivals. Jociel Da Silva scored two goals including the winner and prepared the third for his countryman Julio Cesar. Al Ain played with only two professional players midfielder Ibrahima Kieta and Brazilian Elias but both of them demonstrated poor display. Al Ain's coach Gallo was not content with the performance of his team's third professional player Valentin from Romania whom he believes technically and physically unfit and for this reason he did not include his name in the match list.

Al Shabab came from behind to level the score via Ciel after they conceded a first half goal which came off a severe blunder committed by Essam Dhahi who netted the ball into his own net only 19 minutes into play. But the winners recovered after the break to score two successive goals to take a 2-1 lead before substitute Juma'a Saeed leveled the result one minute into the additional time. At the time the match was heading towards extra time, Ciel dashed Al Ain's hopes when he drived the ball home in the dying moments to secure a 3-2 win for Al Shabab that helped them to capture the Etisalat Cup for the first time.