03-03-2025
Seeb to take on Kuwait's Al Arabi in AFC Challenge
Muscat: Oman's Seeb Club are gearing up to take on Kuwait's Al Arabi on Wednesday at the latter's home at Jaber Al Mubarak Al Sabah Stadium in Sulaibikhat in the quarterfinal first-leg match of 2024-25 AFC Challenge League.
Seeb's delegation arrived in Kuwait on Monday and they will have two training sessions ahead of the encounter. The second-leg matches of quarterfinal round are on March 12 and 13 while the semifinals are scheduled on April 9 and 17 in two legs too. The final match of the AFC Challenge League will be held on May 10.
The runners-up of the HM Cup and the league leaders are entering the match with strong advantage as they have managed to win all the three matches to top Group C. Seeb had a memorable continental debut in 2022 after they lifted the historic AFC Cup. Seeb are inch closer to lift the second consecutive and fourth overall Oman Professional League shield as they are currently leading the table order of the top domestic league.
Seeb head coach Nikola Djurovic will depend on the stars who are representing the current squad of the national football team including: Jameel al Yahmadi, Mohammed al Musallami, Ahmed al Khamisi and Zaher al Aghbari besides former players like Eid al Farsi, Abdulaziz al Maqbali and others.
On the other hand, Al Arabi from Kuwait advanced to the knockout stage as the best runners-up in the West Region, besides that they are 17-time Kuwait Premier League champions. Al Arabi SC managed to earn a 2-1 win over Al Nasr in the last round of Kuwait's league and they revived their hopes to compete against Kuwait SC in the standings list of the league.
In the other matches of West Asia, the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium in Kolkata will host Group A winners East Bengal of India against Group B winners FC Arkadag. The home side, who won their maiden Super Cup in 2024, are appearing in a knockout stage for a fifth time and were AFC Cup semifinalists in 2013. Their opponents from Turkmenistan, meanwhile, have enjoyed a remarkable rise since being founded in 2023 – two successive league and cup doubles have been achieved by winning all 66 domestic matches to date and they will eye further progress on their continental debut.
