Dubai: Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club will play Al Ain and Al Wahda will face Al Wasl in the semi-finals of the President’s Cup. The draw for the last four was made at the UAE Football Association (UAE FA) headquarters in Al Khawaneej on Wednesday.
Matches will take place next Wednesday, April 25, at neutral venues still to be confirmed, while the final will take place on Thursday, May 3.
The draw follows last weekend’s quarter-finals where Al Ain beat Diego Maradona’s Fujairah 4-2, Al Wasl edged Dibba 1-0, Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club overturned Sharjah 1-0 and Al Wahda thrashed Al Jazira 3-0.
The President’s Cup is the UAE’s premier domestic cup competition and has run since 1975. Al Ahli, who were merged with Al Shabab and Dubai Club to form Shabab Al Ahli Dubai last summer, are the record winners with 12 titles.
Al Ain — the record 12-time UAE league champions, who are on course for a record extending 13th title this season — are third in the President’s Cup most wins tally with six victories.
Meanwhile, Al Wahda are the defending champions having beaten Al Nasr 3-0 in last year’s final, and Al Wasl are looking to win their first piece of silverware in 11 years having last done a league and President’s Cup double in 2007.
Elsewhere, in the Asian Champions League, Al Jazira, who finished second in Group A after losing their last group game 2-1 at home to Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli on Tuesday, will play Iran’s Persepolis in the Last 16.
The first leg will be at home on May 7, with the second leg away to be played on May 14. Al Ain, who finished second in Group D after beating Qatar’s Al Rayyan 4-1 away on Monday, will play Qatar’s Al Duhail in the Last 16.
The first leg will be at home on May 8, with the second leg away to be played on May 15.
Al Ain are the most successful UAE side in the Asian Champions League, having won it once in 2003 with two subsequent final defeats in 2005 and 2016. The furthest Al Jazira have gone is the Last 16 with two exits in 2012 and 2014.
