Oman’s Seeb Club in Kuala Lumpur with eye on AFC Cup triumph

Muscat: It was the boost the domestic football giants, Seeb Club, needed ahead of their maiden participation in the final of AFC Cup.

And it came at the perfect time as a confident Seeb Club team landed in Kuala Lumpur with a mission to create history.

Seeb will lock horns with Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur (KL) City in the summit clash of the 2022 AFC Cup on October 22. The match kicks off at 3pm, Oman time.

His Highness Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, on Tuesday gave orders for the support to Seeb Club, which included a special Oman Air flight to be provided to the club fans for the final.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth (MCSY) also said that financial aid has been provided to the club for their preparations ahead of the final.

In an effort to acclimatise to the weather conditions in Malaysia, Seeb delegation departed from Muscat on Tuesday and arrived in Kuala Lumpur later in the afternoon.

With a goal to earn the first AFC Cup title, Seeb coach, Rasheed Jaber, wasted little time after the team’s arrival and organised the team’s first warm-up session in the night.

The AFC Cup is the second most prestigious club tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and only next to Asian Champions League (ACL).

Seeb are chasing history as it vies to become the first Omani club to claim a title at the continental level.

Seeb booked a place in the final in style, trouncing Bahrain’s Al Riffa Club 4-0 in the semifinal at the Seeb Sports Stadium.

Oman’s only other club to make a significant mark was Al Nahda when the club reached the AFC Cup semifinals in 2008.

No team from the Sultanate of Oman has reached the knockout stage since the introduction of the zonal system in 2017. Salalah-based Al Nasr Club featured in the quarterfinals in 2006.

Seeb, the reigning domestic league, His Majesty’s Cup and Super Cup champions, are the first team from the Sultanate to reach the AFC Cup final in the current format.

This is the competition’s 18th final and features two debutant finalists. KL City are looking to follow in the footsteps of domestic rivals Johor Darul Ta’zim, who won the title back in 2015.