FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN’S Riffa played to a thrilling 1-1 stalemate against Al Zawra’a FC of Iraq last night in their Group B clash of the 2026-27 Gulf Club Champions League.
Mahdi Abduljabbar scored the equaliser for the Bahrainis midway through the second half just two minutes after Zawra’a substitute Mohammed Qasim put the hosts ahead at Al Zawra’a Stadium in Baghdad.
The result earned Riffa a share of the points as they improved to four in their division standings. The draw followed their resounding 4-1 home victory over Qatar SC of Qatar last week, bouncing back from a disappointing 0-3 defeat against Al Nasr of the UAE in their opening fixture of the competition played in Dubai.
Riffa are back in action in this season’s Gulf Club Champions League later this month. Their next assignment is once again against Zawra’a – this time at home on November 24. They then face Nasr, also at home, on December 9, before completing their Group B campaign against Qatar on February 16 next year in Doha.
Riffa are one of 12 clubs in this first phase of the Gulf Football Federation championship. Group A is composed of Neom SC from Saudi Arabia, Al Duhail SC from Qatar, Al Shabab SC from Oman, and Shaab Hadramaut SC from Yemen; while Group C features Al Ettifaq SC of Saudi, Ajman SC of the UAE, Erbil SC from Iraq, and Kazma SC from Kuwait.
Fixtures in this stage of the tournament are being held in home-and-away format. Following the completion of the preliminaries on February 17, the top two teams from each of the three groups will advance to the elite eight, set to be played between March 2 and 17, together with the two best third-placed sides. The semi-finals and final will take place in April.
In last night’s contest, Riffa had a chance to go in front in the closing minutes of the first half after Algerian professional Tayeb Meziani was brought down as he was charging into the box by Zawra’a centre-back Marlen Chobanov.
The penalty was only given following a lengthy VAR review, and Riffa’s Brazilian import Brazilian Rodrigo Yuri Pires Franca stepped forward to take the spot kick. But Franca’s cheeky shot in the first minute of injury time was saved by Zawra’a custodian Ahmed Basil Fadhil, and then Franca also squandered his attempt on the rebound which he hit over the crossbar.
After the re-start, the home team went ahead in the 71st minute when Qasim drove in a low effort from close range off a cross from the right by teammate Hiran Ahmed. That came after a defensive blunder by Riffa’s Brazilian defender Cleiton dos Anjos Silva.
The Zawra’a celebrations were short lived, however, as Riffa were soon back on level terms. Abduljabbar supplied the heroics when he headed in from the face of goal off a brilliant cross delivered by Franca.
Serbian Dejan Georgievic then had an opportunity to win the game for Riffa in second-half stoppage time, but his late effort hit the left upright after beating Fadhil.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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