Olympic Beirut with the double at the top of Lebanese football
Beirut,
July 5 (Lebanese Football) – The 31st
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 92nd and 93rd 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 102nd 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 108th 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 114th 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
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