The 2013 UAFA Club Cup Final was a football match which was played on 24 April and 14 May 2013. It was the 1st final of the UAFA Club Cup and the 26th of the Arab World's inter-club football tournament. The final was played as home and away matches, and it was contested between Al-Arabi SC of Kuwait and USM Alger of Algeria.
The 5 July 1962 Stadium (Arabic: ملعب 5 جويلية 1962), (the name refers to 5 July 1962, the day Algeria declared independence), is a football and athletics stadium located in Algiers, Algeria. The stadium was inaugurated in 1972 with a capacity of 95,000. It served as the main stadium of the 1975 Mediterranean Games, the 1978 All-Africa Games, the 2004 Pan Arab Games, and the 2007 All-Africa Games. The stadium was one of two venues of the 1990 African Cup of Nations (the other venue was the 19 May 1956 Stadium in Annaba). It hosted 9 matches of the tournament, including the final match, which had a second record attendance of 105,302 spectators. In the final match, the home team Algeria defeated Nigeria 1–0 to win the tournament. The record attendance is of 110,000 spectators in the friendly match between Algeria and Serbia on 3 March 2010.[1] It also hosted the 2000 African Championships in Athletics. After a formal compliance with current safety standards in 1999, the stadium was reduced to an 80,200 capacity, and following a new phase of renovation in 2003.[2]
The final was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis, with the order of legs decided by a draw, held after the group stage draw. If the aggregate score was tied after the second leg, the away goals rule would be applied, and if still level, the penalty shoot-out would be used to determine the winner (no extra time would be played).
The first quarter of the match saw balanced play, with USM Alger slightly on the front foot. In the 13th minute, Noureddine Daham opened the scoring for USM Alger after receiving a pass from Bouazza Feham. In the 25th minute, Al-Arabi SC thought they had equalized through Mohamed Farih, but the goal was disallowed for offside a decision that replays showed to be questionable.
In the 33rd minute, Daham found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Sulaiman Abdulghafour. His shot beat the keeper but struck the crossbar, narrowly missing a second goal. Four minutes later, after a cross from Mokhtar Benmoussa, Lamouri Djediat doubled USM Alger’s lead with a composed finish in the 37th minute. However, just before halftime, in the 42nd minute, Hamza Koudri was sent off following a dangerous tackle on an Al-Arabi SC player, leaving USM Alger with 10 men for the remainder of the match.[3][4]
Al-Arabi SC came out strong in the second half, capitalizing on USM Alger’s defensive posture. In the 58th minute, Kader Fall pulled one back for the Kuwaiti side. Just three minutes later, Hussain Al-Moussawi leveled the score with a powerful long-range shot that beat goalkeeper Mohamed Lamine Zemmamouche.
Al-Moussawi had another golden opportunity in the 73rd minute when he found himself one-on-one with Zemmamouche but failed to convert. Just two minutes later, Carolus Andriamatsinoro was fouled inside the box, prompting referee Khalil Jalal to award a penalty to USM Alger. Captain Mohamed Rabie Meftah stepped up and calmly converted to restore his team’s lead.
In the 82nd minute, Zemmamouche made a crucial save to deny Al-Arabi a third goal. USM Alger held firm under pressure until the final whistle, securing the title the first UAFA Club Cup in the club's history. The trophy was presented by Prime Minister Sellal, in the presence of the Minister of Youth and Sports and the President of the Algerian Football Federation.[5][6]
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