Olympic Beirut with the double at the top of Lebanese football

Beirut, July 5 (Lebanese Football) – The 31^st edition of Lebanon's cup final was quite a great conclusion for the 2002/03 football season in Lebanon with a tight competition between Nejmeh and Olympic where the winner was ambiguous until the final whistle of the Austrian referee Frisk Shtokhlit. 

The match was held at Beirut's Sporting city Stadium in front of about 20000 spectators who witnessed a great football match between the two top teams in Lebanon this season. 

 All the action in the first half was in the midfield with no great chances to score except for Mahmoud Majid's ball that hit the post in an attempt to give the lead for Nejmeh. Olympic's player didn't show their best mainly because they dug in with a gusty defensive performance against a fiercely motivated Nejmeh side and players were individuals playing on their own without having a team spirit which gave the ball possession to Nejmeh. 

Nothing changed much at the second half where both teams maintained their desperate style but Olympic managed to threaten Abdu Tafeh's goal on several occasions which turned to be useless especially in front of a good Nejmeh defence headed by Husien Daher who knew how to block Mohammed Kassass with his man-to-man marking. Nejmeh nearly scored in the regulation time but Olympic's keeper Ahmed Saker saved the night for Olympic with his alertness and great saves for two masterful shots by Abbas Atwi and Yihya Hashem at the 92^nd and 93^rd minutes respectively. 

With both teams failing to score in the original time, they had to go for extra times with no golden goal rule implied. All the action came at these two extra times and the break through came for Nejmeh when Olympic's midfielder Mohammad Rida failed to clear Abbas Atwi's cross and headed the ball into his own goal at the first minute. However, Nejmeh's joy was short-lived because Olympic equalized through another own goal by Nejmeh's defender Sunday who converted a blistering free-kick by the substitute Edislon at the 102^nd minute.

At the second extra time, Olympic managed to take the lead through Silvio Costa who hit a thunderous right footer after collecting a neat pass from Edilson at the 108^th minute and it was Nejmeh's turn to equalize this time through a supreme header by Mohammad Halawi three minutes later. 

However, Silvio sealed the victory for Olympic in the dying minutes after a disastrous error committed by Nejmeh's defence (mainly Mohammad Ibrahim) at the 114^th minute then Olympic managed to maintain their one-goal margin until the final whistle to seal a victorious and first win over their rivals Nejmeh who managed to win their previous three encounters. 

The match concluded an exiting football season with a great football style presented by all teams and mainly the trio of Olympic, Nejmeh and Ahed and all what we can hope for now that this good level be reflected on the Lebanese national teams in their participation in the regional and continental competitions. 

Nejmeh: Abdou Tafeh, Sunday Okko, Mohammad Ibrahim, Husein Daher, Mohammad Halawi, Khaled Hamiye, Abbas Atwi (Mohammad Ghaddar), Zein Abideen Saed (Saeed Aboushi), Yihya Hashem, Moussa Hujeij and Mahmoud Majid (Jilberto). 

Olympic: Ahmed Saker, Pierre Issa, Marsellio, Yussof Mohammad, Nabil Baalbaki, Yussof Baalbaki, Husein Oleik (Husein Sweidan), Abbas Atwi (Edilson), Mohammad Rida, Mohammad Kassass (Ali Mteirik) and Silvio Costa. 

Yellow cards:

Nejmeh: Yihya Hashem 91'
Olympic: Abbas Atwi 56', Yussof Baalbaki 91', Mohammad Kassass 97', Edilson 120'.

Snapshots:
- Freiburg's new signing Roda Antar was present at the match and he celebrated with Olympic's players.

- Nejmeh's players refused to comment on the match and they headed towards the dressing rooms without even getting their medals.

- The LFA's president Mr. Hashem Haidar and the minister of Youth and Sports Mr. Siboh Hovnanian shared Olympic's players with their joy and they both danced on the rhythm of "We are the Champions" when they handed the trophy for Olympic's Captain Pierre Issa.

- Several celebrities attended the match like the honorary president for Nejmeh Mr. Bahaa' Deen Hariri, Tadamon's resigned president Mr. Sherif Wehbi, Homentmen's president Mr. Misak Najarian and many other persons from the football family.

Written by: Mouhamad Hallal
photo by: Adnan Hajj Ali
www.lebanese-football.com