Tuesday 28 / May / 2024
MUSCAT: Newly-crowned Omantel League champions Seeb capped a successful season on Monday night with yet another title to complete a season treble as they lifted the OFA Cup at the Seeb Sports Stadium.
Up against Bahla in the summit clash, the teams remained locked in a goalless stalemate to force the title to be decided in a shootout.
In the penalty shootout, Seeb edged past Bahla 5-4 to retain the crown and lift the OFA Cup for the third time.
The OFA Cup triumph meant that the Muscat-based heavyweights completed a treble in the 2023-24 domestic football season after earlier title wins in Super Cup and the Omantel League.
On Monday night, Seeb goalkeeper Ahmed Al Rawahi turned out to be the hero of the victory as he saved the spot kick of Bahla’s Nasser Al Saqri.
For the winners, Abdulaziz al Miqbali, Mohammed Al Musalami, Mohammed Ramadan, Omar Al Fazari and Mohsin Al Ghassani converted their spot kicks. For Bahla, Olivera, Mazin, Mohammed and Locki Fezmi converted their penalty kicks.
For Seeb, it was the 2021-2022 season that will be etched in the annals of the football history of Oman as they became the first club to achieve the quadruple as they won the Super Cup, HM’s Cup, Omantel League and the coveted AFC Cup.
Seeb are the only club in the Sultanate of Oman to have won the continental title, AFC Cup.
This season, the club once again came close to repeating but for their exit in the HM’s Cup.
In his exclusive remarks to Times of Oman on Tuesday, Yousuf Al Wahaibi, the club’s vice-chairman said: “We are proud of our achievements. To complete a domestic treble underlines our team’s dominance.
“The club’s board under the guidance of HH Sayyid Shihab bin Tarik Al Said and HH Sayyid Melek bin Shihab Al Said congratulates the players and the coaching staff for their hard work and their title wins,”
Al Wahaibi said: “In the recent years, Seeb has been a force to reckon with in domestic football and also brought home the only continental title with the AFC Cup glory in 2022. We are proud winners of His Majesty’s Cup four times, including a hat-trick of titles from 1996 to 1998. The last title was in 2022 when we had a dream season.
“Even in the top-flight league, we won back-to-back titles in the 2019-20 and 2021-22 season before taking this year’s title.”
Al Wahaibi said that the latest OFA Cup title was the third for the club and the team has also won OFA’s Super Cup three times.
“The trophies only underscore our team’s strength and we would like to continue the winning momentum in the new season too,” said the long-serving senior club functionary.
On Monday, Seeb repeated their title win over Bahla last season, a result that too came through spot kicks.
Later, chief guest HH Sayyid Nadir bin Al Julanda bin Majid al Said, Secretary-General at the Diwan of Royal Court, presented the trophy to Seeb captain Eid al Farsi in the presence of officials from Oman Football Association (OFA) and representatives from both clubs.
