Nasr dumped out of AFC Champions League

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  • Romarinho scored the only goal of the game for El Jaish.

    This should have been the most-triumphant night in Al Nasr’s history.

    A 90-minute-long celebration was set to be witnessed at Al Maktoum Stadium after Wanderley’s debut brace earned an incredible 3-0 first-leg lead at El Jaish last month. With it, an opening run in the knockout stages of the AFC Champions League seemed certain to extend into the semi-finals – and beyond.

    But this rosy picture had long been smudged by the time ex-Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita demonstrated his thoroughbred ability to tee up Romarinho for the visitor’s early goal yesterday, which ended any now-distant dreams of progression.

    The scandal about Brazil-born Wanderley’s “forged or falsified” Indonesian passport dominated the intervening weeks, with the Asian Football Confederation
    issuing the freshly-acquired signing with a 60-day ban on September 2 and effectively reversing the score line from Doha by calling that game a forfeit on Monday.

    The summer signing from Sharjah watched on from the stands as his team-mates stumbled in his absence. Now redress can only be attained off the pitch, by an indignant club who have submitted an appeal to the Asian governing body.

    “This beautiful trip in the AFC is now over but it has given us a lot of very nice experiences,” said Blue Wave boss Ivan Jovanovic.

    “I’m proud of my team for what they did in the field for all these games.

    “I personally don’t have any hope that the appeal will work. I’m a coach and every day I work with my players in the field, my life is on the field.

    “With the speed at which this decision happened and the timing, to tell you the truth I’m not bothered by the decision. I’m just sad for my players as they deserved and worked for much more.”

    From the moment that dreadlocked Romarinho  – who helped torment upcoming opponents Al Ain during two Group D-victories – lashed in on nine minutes, the ‘Miracle of Al Maktoum’ was no more. A 4-0 aggregate score, which boasted the advantage of an away goal, saw to that.

    Keita had just been a half-time substitute in Doha, freshly acquired on a free transfer after a serious injury ruled out star striker Abderrazak Hamdallah. In Dubai, the timeless 36-year-old conjured a majestic moment, stretching his long legs to dance past several challenges and ping a 35-yard diagonal pass onto the forward’s toe to volley in his fifth goal of this year’s edition.

    The response was then minimal from a Nasr team bereft of belief.

    Morocco playmaker Abdelaziz Barrada – whose arrival from Marseille necessitated Wanderley being put forward for the Asian-qualified spot in the four-player foreign
    quota – headed wide past the half- hour mark, before stand-in centre forward Salem Saleh squandered a quartet of second-half chances.

    The UAE reserve placed a scissor kick onto the post, wasted two presentable crosses then missed a tap-in from close range during injury-time

    The final whistle brought rancour from the stands. It was also unlikely to bring closure to this contentious tie.

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