Shahat,1stEgyptian to reach FIFA Club World Cup Final

CAIRO – 20 December 2018: Al-Ain Egyptian winger, Hussein el-Shahat, led his team on Tuesday night to defeat Argentina’s River Plate at the FIFA Club World Cup semi-final.

Shahat is the first Egyptian player to reach the tournament'sfinal.

“It is a massive achievement for Al-Ain. I want to thank all the Egyptian fans who supportedme throughout the tournament,”Shahat told ON Sport on Wednesday.

Al-Ain is the second Arab team to reach the final following Raja Casablanca who reached the final in 2013.

The Emirati club had a great start and their veteran Swedish striker, Marcus Berg, opened the score after three minutes which was a massive shock for River Plate.

River’s Rafael Borre quickly equalized the score at the 11th minute and five minutes later, he added the second goal to grant his team the lead in the score.

Al-Ain had many attempts to equalize and their Brazilian winger, Caio Fernandez, made the score 2-2, six minutes after the half time.

The regular time ended 2-2 and both teams failed to add more goals at the extra time which took the game to penalty shoot-outs.

Al-Ain scored all their five attempts, while the Argentinean team scored only four and their captain, Enzo Perez, missed the fifth to send Al-Ain to the final.

Shahat spoke about the final, saying “I do not mind playing as a center forward, winger or staying on the bench; what really matters is achieving victory at the final.”

Shahat played a massive role in his team’s journey towards the final and he scored their second goal at their 3-0 victory over Esperance at the second round.