Riffa and East Riffa set sights on thrilling derby

TDT | Manama                                                                            

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain champions Riffa and neighbours East Riffa are set to lock horns for an exciting derby in the Zonal Semi-finals of the AFC Cup 2022.

The match is scheduled for an 8pm kick-off on Tuesday night and it will be played on neutral ground at the Muharraq Club stadium in Arad. The winners of the single-game final four clash will move on to the West Asian Zonal final, where they will face the winners of the other semis contest between Al Arabi of Kuwait and Al Seeb of Oman.

The winners of the West Asian Zonal final will then march through to the AFC Cup 2022 final, where they will face the winners of the Inter-Zone Play-off final. There are currently four teams still vying for that spot, including Sogdiana Jizzakh of Uzbekistan, Eastern of Hong Kong, ATK Mohun Bagan of India and Kuala Lumpur City of Malaysia.

Speaking ahead of the upcoming derby, Riffa and Bahrain national team superstar Komail Al Aswad told afc.com that his team is not taking things lightly.

“It is a derby and a continental semi-final, so we are expecting an extremely tough match against East Riffa,” said Al Aswad.

“You cannot afford to make mistakes in a game like this, especially as we will be starting our season with such a huge game. Both teams know each other very well but playing each other in a single knockout game is very different to playing in the league.

Concentration will be the key in this game. “At Riffa, we are always pursuing silverware, and at this early stage of the season we will be entirely focused on the AFC Cup. It will be a crucial game; we hope luck will be on our side and we hope to go as far as possible in the competition.”

Al Aswad added that Riffa are determined to keep the AFC Cup trophy in the Kingdom, and emulate the success from last season of Bahrain’s Muharraq Club, who claimed the tournament crown.

“We need to be fully focused throughout the game to get the victory—then we can start thinking about winning the title, following in the footsteps of Muharraq’s victory last year to keep raising the Bahrain flag high,” he said.

The talented midfielder noted that the team’s preparations have so far been as planned. “Things are going well inside Riffa camp,” he said. “We are motivated, excited and will be ready for the game.

“We had a successful training camp in UAE where we faced strong teams like Al Ain and Al Wasl; I think we are coming out of this camp with many benefits and the coaching staff have been telling us a lot of positive things. Hopefully we can be fully ready on matchday.”

Riffa qualified for the Zonal Semi-finals after finishing as the best runners-up from the group stage, while East Riffa made it through after topping Group C.