The final match of the President's Cup of the UAE will take place at 7:30 PM in the Muhammed Bin Zayed hall in Abu Dhabi, where the youth teams of Al-Ahli and Sharjah, the leading titleholders of the tournament, will meet. This event will become a great opportunity for both teams to contend for the title of the most titled team in the history of the tournament. Each team already has 10 titles. Last time Al-Ahli won the tournament in 2021, defeating Nasr with a score of 2-1. Sharjah won the President's Cup in 2023, beating Al-Ain in a penalty shootout 14-13.
"We do not want a repeat of what happened in the final of the Professional League Cup, where we lost to Al-Jazeera with a score of 1-2. We need to consolidate victories in the League and the President's Cup to complete a unique season," noted coach Paulo Souza. A significant factor for Al-Ahli is forward Sardar Azmoun from Iran, who scored 25 goals for the team during the season, becoming one of the key factors in his team’s success. In addition, captain Kartabiyu, midfielder Saeed Al-Azlah, and goalkeeper Hamda Al-Mukbali carry great expectations.
Sharjah also has a number of stars who may influence the outcome of the match, including coach Olario Kozminen, who has professionally managed similar key matches both tactically and in the substitution process, as well as block meetings and goalkeepers. Today’s match will be the seventh meeting between Al-Ahli and Sharjah this season, which marks the longest match series between the two teams in the history of football in the UAE, including five matches in one month in March.
Al-Ahli and Sharjah faced each other in the first round of the championship with a result of 2-1 in favor of "the knights from Dubai." In the second round, the match ended in a draw. The teams also faced each other twice in the AFC Champions League quarter-finals with a shared score of 1-1, which allowed Sharjah to advance to the final after a series of penalties. They also met twice in the Abu Dhabi Banking Cup with a victory for Al-Ahli of 3-1 and a draw of 2-2, as a result of which "the knights from Dubai" reached the final, where they lost to Al-Jazeera.
Today’s game will take place under different circumstances for both teams: Al-Ahli will come out on the field already having the title of league champion for three rounds until the end of the championship. Al-Ahli experienced a defeat from Sharjah from Al-Wahda 3-0 after the team itself could not win, losing to Valsu 1-2, which became the first loss for "the knights from Dubai" in the championship. Sharjah decided to continue advancing in the league, hoping to win the President's Cup and in the AFC Cup-2, the final of which will take place on the 18th against "Liva City Sailors" from Singapore.
