THE 41st King’s Cup final kicks off tonight at 6.30pm at Bahrain National Stadium in Isa Town with bitter rivals Muharraq and Al Najma clashing for the most important trophy in Bahrain soccer.
It will be the fourth time these two teams will be meeting in the final of this prestigious tournament.
The first final between the two teams was in 1978 which Muharraq won 1-0. Al Najma were then named Al Wehda. They later merged with Al Qadisiya and became Al Hilal before taking on the present name - Al Najma.
The second final was in 1995 when Muharraq defeated Al Qadisiya 1-0 and the third in 2008 - Muharraq defeated Al Hilal 2-1.
Successful
Muharraq’s national coach Salman Sharida is the most successful in this competition having won it six times with three different teams.
Sharida won the King’s Cup four times with Muharraq - ‘89, ‘93, 2008 and 2009. He also won it with Al Wehda (now Al Najma) in the ‘92 season. His most recent victory was with Al Hidd in 2015.
By contrast, Al Najma’s young coach Ali Ashoor is believed to be the youngest to be feating in the final.
Muharraq are also the most successful in the history of this competition having reached the final 20 times and winning it on 18 occasions.
Al Najma, on the other hand, have won the King’s Cup five times.
Muharraq reached the final defeating East Riffa in the pre-quarter final, Al Hidd in the quarter-final and Riffa in the semi-final.
Al Najma reached the final defeating Al Shabab in the pre-quarter-final, Manama in the quarter-final and Ettihad in the semi-final.
Teams:
Muharraq: Sayed Mohammed Jaffar (goalkeeper), Ismael Abdullatif, Ibrahim Al Obaidly, Mohammed Al Banna, Waleed Al Hayyam, Jamal Rashid, Abdulwahab Ali, Abdulla Yousif, Zeyad Al Derbali, Zeyad Al Al Zeyadi, Mohammed Sola.
Al Najma: Sayed Shubbar Alawi (goalkeeper), Ali Madan, Kumail Abdulla, Ahmed Abdulla, Abdulaziz Khalid, Mohammed Sahwan, Sayed Mahdi Baqer, Abdulla Janahi, Uche Ogba, Mohammed Faris and Alexander de Silva.