Shabab Al Ahli announces squad for AFC Champions League; Amouri & Ahmed Khalil miss out

Shabab Al Ahli announced their squad for the upcoming AFC Champions League (ACL) on Monday. The two notable exclusions were Omar Abdel Rahman "Amouri" and Ahmed Khalil. 

It must be noted that Amouri joined the team in the winter transfer window and was one of the players that the fans were hoping would make a difference in the continental stage. But Mahdi Ali has decided to drop him from the contingent that is set to fly to Saudi Arabia to play in the marquee competition of the continent. 

The following players have been selected:

Majed Nasser, Hassan Hamza, Gamal Ismail, Hamdan Al Kamali, Salmeen Khamis, Muhammad Marzouq, Youssef Jaber, Walid Abbas, Muhammad Jaber, Abdul Aziz Haykal, Saud Abdul Razzaq, Saeed Ahmed, Abdul Aziz Sanqour, Yahya Al Ghassani, Federico Cartabia, Ahmed Gamil, Abdullah Abdul-Rahman, Rashid Suhail, Abdullah Al-Naqbi, Marwan Fahd, Carlos Eduardo, Hareb Abdullah Suhail, Jalaluddin Masharibov, Eid Khamis, Majid Hassan, Ahmed Al-Attas, Igor Jesus, Muhammad Gomaa.

On Monday, the team flew to Saudi Arabia in a private jet to reduce the chances of getting infected by the Coronavirus. 

They have been placed in Group A along with Saudi outfit Al Hilal, Tajik side Istiklol and FC AGMK from Uzbekistan. They will begin their campaign on April 15 against Istiklol, at the King Fahad International Stadium. 

They are in a rich vein of form as they have won their previous four matches. In their last match, they defeated Al Ain and won the Arabian Gulf Cup title in tie-breakers. 

They are in the third position in the Arabian Gulf League with 43 points from 23 matches. They are in a 13-match unbeaten streak, as their last defeat came against Fujairah on December 18, 2020, away from home.