KINGS OF QATAR
STEPHEN McINTOSH reports on a club who have turned their fortunes around in remarkable style
Examining Al Rayyan
IT IS often the case that when football and a Gulf country is mentioned, talk of money will undoubtedly follow. Players are portrayed counting their crazy cash and the game itself seems totally elusive. Yet it wouldn’t be if you knew the story of Al Rayyan’s spectacular season in Qatar.
Backtrack to nearly two years ago and the Al Rayyan fans would be labelled crazy if they could imagine seeing their side revel in first division title glory 24 months later.
Though if they did, they may have been remembering a certain special three years in the club’s history.
Relegated at the end of the 2013/14 campaign, Rayyan returned to the top flight immediately after winning the second division. Now head coach Jorge Fossati and his supreme team are living the same feat the Rayyan squad of 1988 to 1990 achieved.
Relegation, promotion then champions. Twice. A remarkable achievement executed in startling fashion.
An outstanding first half of the campaign seemed to signify that the league was sewn up before the winter break.
None of the title contenders could come close to challenging throughout - even a superb eight-game winning run from reigning champions Lekhwiya was too late to have any bearing on the title race.
When they won the league, Rayyan’s record stood as played 21 and won 20, their dominance only slightly halted once in a tight 2-1 Qatari clasico defeat to Al Sadd, featuring Xavi.
In November they broke the consecutive wins record with 11 in a row on the way to their best points tally and goal difference in a single year ever.
And the front three have been a huge part to making that all happen. Sebastian Soria, the fourth most-capped and highest-scoring Qatari player, partnering former Barcelona and Espanyol striker Sergio Garcia have admirably supported captain, though more so revelation Rodrigo Tabata in an attack that averaged an incredible three goals per game.
Tabata, at the time of writing, stands as the league’s top scorer and assist-maker.
In April 2012, he scored a ‘super hat-trick’ (4 goals) against Qatar SC during an 8-2 win. This season he did the exact same against the exact same team, yet this time the score ended an even more humiliating 9-0. Player of the year ensued after his first ‘super hattrick,’ and the man with 82 goals in 94 apperances for Rayyan will unquestionably be picking up the award once again after his second. Even when the prime marksman, who endured a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to a serious injury, was out, the Lions’ superb consistency continued. The gulf in class before the campaign started was indistinct, though the week before they took the title home, it couldn’t have been any clearer. Even without Tabata, Rayyan smashed closest challengers Lekhwiya 5-0 before putting the same amount past Al Wakrah to seal kudos with five games still to play. Guarding a team against any degree of complacency is one of the toughest jobs for a manager, but Uruguayan Fosatti executed the task perfectly. His calming influence and prestigious experience had a massive impact on his squad in his first year as boss and he is well on his way to becoming the first ever head coach to manage two sides to a domestic treble in Qatar after doing so with Al Sadd in 2007. Even the most optimistic supporters of the chasing pack in El Jaish and the Red Knights could expect nothing more than a Falcon Shield parade for Rayyan as they raced ahead to repeat history. They will look to maintain their superiority in the cup competitions before preparing to stake a claim in next term’s Asian Champions League. Considering the way they powered through the league, Rayyan will fancy their chances up against anyone. Fosatti and his dazzling array of talent have shown there is real entertainment behind all the wealth in the Gulf.