Qatari Club Al Ahli beat Bahrain's Al Rifaa by a solitary goal to win the opening match of the Al Sayegh Challenge Cup, organised by Al Jazira Club at Zayed Sports City, late on Wednesday.
The match was played amidst extreme energy-sapping heat and humidity. It proved to be particularly difficult for the four Brazilians of Al Ahli club.
The unfriendly weather conditions made it difficult to even watch the match.
The handful of spectators who came to the stadium thought it best to confine themselves within the air-conditioned enclosure. Most of them preferred watching the Asian World Cup qualifiers that were being shown live on TV.
Back on the field, the match was mostly a dull affair with both the teams content with restricting themselves only at the midfield especially in the second half.
The inclement weather only made things more difficult on the turf.
Al Ahli dominated the first half with their six professionals four from Brazil: Alexander Diolovera, Fernando Diniz, Sergio Ricardo and Gilmar Delima; and two from Oman: Badr Al Maymani and Hassan Muzaffar.
Ricardo, in particular, was the star of his team making steady inroads into the Bahraini defence and creating scoring chances for his colleagues.
He sent a curling corner kick 15 minutes into the game and Diolovera, the advancing centre back, headed home for the lone goal of the match.
Al Rifaa missed the services of nine of their first-choice players who were turning out, at the same time, for their country in the Asian qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup.
In the first 45 minutes, Al Rifaa could not organise even a single attacking move.
After the breather, the foreigners of Al Ahli were exhausted and the Al Rifaa players tried to put pressure on their rivals. However, the attempts lacked a lethal finishing touch.
Meanwhile, hosts Al Jazira will play their first match at 8pm tonight against Al Rifaa at the same venue.
Al Jazira have an attacking problem, missing Mohammad Salim Al Enazy and Yousuf Abdul Aziz through injuries, Mohammad Omar through suspension and Razzaq, their new striker from Benin, who left for Khartoum to turn out for his country against Sudan in the African qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup.
Dario will lead the attack with Ebrahima Diyaki close behind and Salih Obaid on the right flank.
Al Rifaa will be no pushovers as they know that losing tonight's match will effectively mean the end of the road for them in this competition.
They will try at least to win the second place and bag the Dh50,000 cash prize.
Al Rifaa missed the services of nine of their first-choice players who were turning out, at the same time, for their country in the Asian qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup.
