(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The history of QSL Cup is unique in that its past five editions saw different champions. And the tradition is likely to continue unless Al Gharafa win this time as they are the only previous winners among the semifinalists, the others being Umm Salal, Al Rayyan and Al Kharaitiyat.
The tournament was revived this year after a gap of three seasons.
Al Gharafa won the inaugural edition by defeating Al Ahli 5-0 in the final. Iraqi striker Younis Mahmoud, and Brazilians Clemerson Soares and Juninho were the stars in The Cheetahs' ranks then.
Al Sadd emerged as victorious the following season with a 1-0 win over Umm Salal in the title clash, Yousef Ahmed netting the all-important goal.
The 2011-12 season saw Al Wakrah being crowned the winners. They beat Al Kharaitiyat 10-9 in shoot-out, enforced to break the deadlock.
The now-defunct El Jaish won the fourth edition, while Qatar SC got the better of Al Sadd in the final of last edition in 2013-14.
Who will be the new champions? Will it be Al Rayyan or Umm Salal or Al Kharaitiyat? Or Al Gharafa again? That is the question doing the rounds
Al Gharafa's path to the semifinals was smooth and they had an unbeaten run, while Umm Salal had to wait till the fifth and final round to know their fate.
Al Gharafa blanked Al Sailiya 4-0 in the last round to finish on 13 points with four wins and one draw. They thus topped Group A.
Umm Salal too had it easy against Al Markhiya, winning 3-0, but they finished with the same number of points (eight) as Al Ahli, who defeated Al Sadd. The Orange Fortress advanced on better goal difference (+3 as against Al Ahli's 0).
Umm Salal ended up as Group B runners-up behind Al Rayyan with two wins, as many draws and one defeat.
Al Gharafa will sorely miss Slovakian attacking midfielder Vladimir Weiss, who is out of action for the rest of the season following a surgery done to correct his cruciate ligament knee injury. He was operated upon at Qatar's orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital Aspetar.
However, the good form of captain Luis Jimenez, Othman al-Yahri, Amro Seraj and Almahdi Ali augur well for Frenchman Jean Fernandez's side.
Both Al Gharafa and Umm Salal are almost at the same level in the QNB Stars League, occupying seventh and fifth position respectively.
Umm Salal are known to be a fighting unit and that could throw a spanner in the rivals' works. Egyptian coach Mahmoud Jaber has moulded them well even though they had a slump in the QNB Stars League of late.
They were in the top four in the standings for major part of the league's first phase before being displaced by Al Sailiya, who stormed into the leading quartet alongside Al Duhail, Al Sadd and Al Rayyan.
Ivorian Yannick Sagbo and Syrian Mahmoud al-Mawas lead their charge, assisted mainly by Rami Fayez, captain Juad Ahnash and Adil Rhaili.
Going by form and strength, Al Rayyan should have it easy against Al Kharaitiyat in the second semi-final of QSL Cup at the Al Shamal Stadium (18:30) today.
Al Rayyan were the first team to reach the last-four stage after their 1-0 victory over Umm Salal in Round 4. The result of the fifth and final round was only of academic interest for them even as they were held goalless by Al Arabi on Tuesday, 12th December, and finished their group campaign on 13 points.
The Lions' other victories were against Al Ahli (2-0, Round 1), Al Sadd (5-1, round 2) and Al Markhiya (5-2, Round 3).
Al Rayyan thus emerged as runaway leaders in Group B, which saw a fierce battle for the second semifinal berth between four teams, who were all on five points, ahead of the last-round matches. Eventually, Umm Salal pipped Al Ahli on better goal difference after both ended up with eight points.
The going has been good for Danish great Michael Laudrup's side so far this season. They are third in the QNB Stars League standings with 25 points, behind Al Duhail (29) and Al Sadd (27), while Al Kharaitiyat are precariously placed 10th with only nine points.
Al Kharaitiyat reached the semi-finals with 11 points (three victories and two draws). Like Al Rayyan, they also managed to stay unbeaten.
They went into their fifth-round fixture against Qatar SC, who needed to win by a two-goal margin to become the second side to progress behind Al Gharafa from Group A, with a winning mentality. And The Thunders did it in style by registering a 6-1 victory.
Al Kharaitiyat's other wins were against Al Sailiya (3-1, Round 1) and Al Khor (4-2, Round 2), while they drew 4-4 with Al Duhail and 1-1 with Al Gharafa.
The winners will face Al Gharafa or Umm Salal in the final at the Qatar SC Stadium on Tuesday, 19th December.
Form and strength apart, Al Kharaitiyat, coached by Tunisian Ahmad al-Ajlani, are capable of springing a surprise and their rivals would be wary of that.
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