By Abdellatif Sharaa

KUWAIT: The football season came to an end with the final match of HH the Amir Cup, which was won by Al-Arabi Football Club after defeating Kuwait 2-1 in extra time on Monday evening. Kuwait took control of the match from the first whistle and Kuwait's Abdallah Al-Buraiki was able to score their first and only goal in the 26th minute.

Attacks and counter attacks continued in the second half until the 83rd-minute when Al-Arabi's Sidric Henry was able to score the equalizer- making it a 1-1 draw. The match went for an extra time and there was no score until the very last minute when Al-Arabi's substitute Ali Khalaf scored the winning goal.

The road to the final match was not easy for both finalists. Kuwait's semi-final was not easy and had to be decided by penalty kicks. Al-Arabi meanwhile, beat Tadhamon in the first round, then Burqan in the round eight. They had a tough time in the semi-final when they met Yarmouk and ended in a goalless draw in both regulation and extra time. The match was also ended with penalty shootout.

Al-Arabi now match Al-Qadisiya in the number of HH the Amir cup wins (16 each). Meanwhile, Kuwait won it 14 times, Kazma 7, Salmiya and Yarmouk twice and Fahaheel once. This marks the 58th Edition of HH the Amir cup which was launched in the 1961-1962 season.

Information Minister, State Minister for Youth Affairs Mohammad Al-Jabri represented HH Deputy Amir, Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah were in attendance during the match along side with Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim and other dignitaries.