Australia’s Central Coast Mariners beat Al Ahed to lift final AFC Cup title

Australia’s Central Coast Mariners beat Lebanon’s Al Ahed 1-0 in the AFC Cup 2023-24 final played at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Oman, Qatar on Sunday.

Alou Kuol scored the title-winning goal for the Mariners in the 84th minute to help the Australian football club become the final AFC Cup champions.

The tournament, which was the second-tier continental club football competition in Asia after the AFC Champions League, is set to be discontinued from next season. The AFC Champions League 2 and AFC Challenge League will be Asia's new second and third-tier competitions starting from 2024-25.

Mark Jackson’s Central Coast Mariners, who became the A-League Premiers last month, are also the first Australian team to win the AFC Cup trophy. Western Sydney Wanderers are the only other football club from Down Under with Asian silverware, having won the AFC Champions League in 2014.

There was little in terms of chances in the opening 23 minutes with most of the play restricted around the midfield area. Though the Mariners edged possession, it was the Lebanese side who had the first real crack at goal midway through the first half.

Diaa Al Hak Al Mohammad found Lee Erwin with a cross, who headed it towards the Australian goal only to see Danny Vukovic pull off a brilliant save.

Al Ahed goalkeeper Mostafa Matar was also called into action at the other end soon after and made a couple of good saves to keep out Miguel Di Pizio and Jacob Farrell within a span of two minutes.

Ahed, the reigning Lebanese champions, also enjoyed a dangerous spell on possession towards the end of the cagey first half, which eventually ended goalless.

With Mikael Doka, who eventually won the Most Valuable Player award, and second-half substitute Ronald Barcellos starting to look menacing after the restart, it was the Mariners who looked the more dangerous of the two sides going forward.

The Australian side came close on multiple occasions but lacked the finesse to find the elusive opening goal.

The Mariners should have taken the lead around the 84-minute mark after a lovely passing move teed up Joshua Nisbet inside the box. The midfielder’s initial attempt was blocked and so was Barcellos’ shot from the follow-up.

The constant pressure, however, finally yielded a goal for the Mariners. Barcellos skipped past two defenders before playing substitute Alou Kuol through on goal. The 22-year-old had little to aim at from a tight angle but managed to squeeze his shot through Matar’s legs to give his team the lead.

Al Ahed, who won the AFC Cup back in 2019, threw the kitchen sink at the Australian side in search of an equaliser but the Mariners defence held fort to complete a historic win.