Doha: Coach Sabri Lamouchi was full of praise for El Jaish's effort despite a 2-2 semi-final second leg draw with Al Ain on Tuesday meaning the Qataris were eliminated from the AFC Champions League 5-3 on aggregate.
Lamouchi’s team began the game at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium needing to score at least twice after suffering a 3-1 first-leg defeat three weeks ago.
After a scoreless first half Omar Abdulrahman then netted 12 minutes after the restart to give El Jaish a mountain to climb, before Romarinho struck twice to leave the tie in the balance with 10 minutes to play.
But with the Qataris pushing for a third they were always susceptible to the counter-attack and so it proved as Mohamed Abdulrahman delivered the killer blow deep into added time to bring an end to El Jaish's excellent continental campaign.
“I’m satisfied with the performance of the team as we played with great enthusiasm until the last minute of the match,” said Frenchman Lamouchi. “We had more determination to win and get through to the final of the competition.
“In the first half we had some problems threatening Al Ain’s goal, but in the second period we made a good comeback despite conceding a goal.
“We were so close to getting the third and I thank my players for the effort they have put in during the entire competition.”
El Jaish had previously claimed back-to-back victories over Al Ain in Group D earlier in the year before both sides advanced to the last 16.
And after the Qatar Stars League team ousted countrymen Lekhwiya to progress to a first ever quarter-final, they then eliminated Al Nasr of the United Arab Emirates to book a date with Al Ain.
But Zlatko Dalic’s side had gone nine matches unbeaten in the tournament since defeat at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in March as their attempt to appear in a first final since 2005 gathered momentum.
The two-goal deficit ultimately proved too big a hurdle to overcome but Lamouchi can look back on a positive campaign in what was only El Jaish’s second appearance in Asia’s premier club competition.
“Playing in the AFC Champions League this year was exciting and an important competition for us,” added Lamouchi.
“The players got big experience from the tournament and the matches they have played this year.
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