27 Nov 2014
?Just a few weeks after the triumph of Qatar’s U-19 football national team in Myanmar, the senior national team wrote another chapter of the country’s football history: They clinched their third Gulf Cup title on November 26 2014 after coming from behind to beat hosts Saudi Arabia 2-1 in Riyadh. A historical success that also involved five former student-athletes of Aspire Academy.
Al Mahdi Ali, Abdulkareem Hassan, Ibrahim Majed, Khaled Muftah and Saad Al-Sheeb were all part of Qatar’s team were all part of the team that competed in the 22nd edition of the Gulf Cup. Defender Al Mahdi Ali also had a significant impact on the final: After Saud Kariri opened the scoring for Saudi Arabia, also three-time champions, the magnificent header of the Aspire graduate leveled the score only two minutes later (18’).
“It was an incredible feeling to score in such an important game and all of us gave everything to bring the title home to Qatar,” said Al Mahdi Ali after the final whistle, celebrating the victory after Khoukhi Boualem scored the winner for Qatar in the 58th minute. His goal handed Qatar their first Gulf title away from home after winning the tournament in 1992 and 2004 in Doha.