Doha, Qatar – Al Sadd beat Al Rayyan 5-4 on penalties to win the Amir Cup 2021 with the final also marking the inauguration of Al Thumama Stadium, a Qatar 2022 World Cup venue.
Yacine Brahimi converted a penalty in the 44th minute to open the scoring for Al Rayyan.
The incident proved controversial as Al Sadd had earlier been refused a clear penalty, with the referee refusing the players’ plea to consult VAR.
However, Al Sadd were awarded a spot-kick in the second half and Santi Cazorla’s cool finish brought them back on level terms.
As neither team were able to score the winner in normal time, the match went to penalties.
Both set of players managed to find the back off the net from the first six kicks. However, Al Sadd’s goalkeeper, Saad al-Sheeb, blocked Al Rayyan’s fourth spot-kick, taken by Iran’s Shojae Khalilzadeh, with Jung Woo-young then scoring off the next kick to seal the title for his side.
The win handed Al Sadd’s coach Xavi Hernandez, the former Spain and Barcelona midfielder, his seventh title as a coach, a role he took up with Al Sadd after hanging up his boots in 2019.
Al Thumama Stadium became the fifth tournament venue to be inaugurated by the organisers on Friday.
The stadium, located 12km (7.5 miles) from Doha’s city centre is set to host matches up to and including the quarter-final stage during Qatar 2022.
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and president of FIFA, football’s world governing body, Gianni Infantino attended the opening ceremony.