It has not even been a month since social media in the region welcomed Oman’s star goalkeeper Ali al Habsi signing a three-year deal with Saudi giant Al Hilal with thousands of tweets and Facebook posts.
But the decision of Al Hilal’s Argentine manager Ramon Diaz on Sunday to drop Habsi from the 24-member Asian Champions League (ACL) squad for the final stages has led to a furore on social media.
The 35 year old Omani had moved from English Championship side Reading, where he had finished the season on a high after winning player of the season awards for two consecutive years.
Much has been expected from Habsi with Hilal as the Omani returned to Asian football after 14 years of European experience.
And the biggest stage for Al Hilal is ACL where the former champion is trying to regain its glory.
It takes on UAE’s Al Ain in the ACL quarterfinals with the first-leg at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain on August 21.
Hundreds of Omanis and club’s fans in the region have expressed their disappointment over Habsi’s omission.
Having gone straight after signing the deal in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to join the team in Austria for the pre-season camp, Habsi was expected to be in goal when Hilal faced Emirati side Al Ain.
The return-leg is at Riyadh’s Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium on September 11.
With the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) rules requiring teams to name their 24-member squad for the final stages, Diaz’s decision means that Habsi will not be in action till the end of November, if the club makes it to the summit clash.
The Argentine coach has opted for two strikers – Syria’s Omar Kharbin and Argentine Matias Britos – and two midfielders - Nicolas Milesi of Uruguay and Carlos Eduardo of Brazil – for the rest of the 2017 ACL season. He seems to be happy with his existing trio of goalkeepers with Abdullah al Mayouf of Saudi Arabia as his No 1 custodian. The other two – Mohammad al Wakid and Marwan al Haidari – are also from Saudi Arabia.
Each team is allowed to play with four foreign recruits including one Asian in ACL and with Diaz deciding against Habsi, fans have raised doubts on social media if Habsi’s decision to leave English football was good.
Fans also criticised the Argentine coach’s decision in not having faith in an experienced goalie like Habsi. In his only remarks after being dropped from the ACL squad, Habsi said, “I respect the manager’s decision. I am a professional footballer and I will continue to train hard and do my best whenever I am given a chance.”
Habsi did feature in the pre-season friendlies for the club in Austria but is yet to play for the club in the Saudi top-flight league known as Jameel League.
Defending champion Al Hilal won its opener against Al Fayha on August 10 and was scheduled to play Al Taawoun on Tuesday night.
Hilal’s record in ACL is second to none within Asian football, but the club has yet to taste success since the creation of ACL back in 2002. It is the only team to have won each of the Asian Club Championship, Asian Cup Winners’ Cup and Asian Super Cup on two occasions. But the last of those continental wins came as far back as 2000. A pair of appearances in the quarterfinals – in 2007 and 2012 – followed and in 2014, Al Hilal lost in the final to Australia’s Western Sydney Wanderers. In 2015, it lost in semifinal to Al Ahli of the UAE and made a round of 16 exit last year.
