A History that Kicked-Off
Between 1990 and 1999, Al Ansar won all the Lebanese Premier League titles. All in all, from 1988 to the present (including 2007), the team won 13 premier league championships. From 1998 onwards they won: 9 FA cups, 4 Lebanese Super Cups (1996 until 1999), 2 Federation Cups (1999 and 2000), and 2 Elite Cups (1997 and 2000). The team has ‘scored’ many local trophies due to its persistence in training and its ambition to move forward. And one man was at the forefront of all this: Coach Adnan al Sharki.
Al Sharki was a sharp man. He pushed his team to win in the 1990s despite the fact that Lebanon was recovering from a harsh civil war and thus sports needed a revival to start the scene from scratch. Al Sharki got quick results in a short period of time and succeeded in winning the confidence of his players and most importantly of the audience where many Ansar fans shouted his name. He was behind the team’s glory and constituted Lebanon’s hope to have a great coach for the national team in the future. Later on, time proved his worth by appointing him the head of the Lebanese national squad.
Lebanese Pride
The team tried to represent Lebanese soccer in its best possible form. In the first round of the Arab Champions League Cup 2006/07, Al Ansar played in the first round against the Kuwaiti team al Qadissiyya. The score was 2-1 and 3-1 in favor of the Kuwaiti team. However, Al Ansar gave it their all, but did not succeed in qualifying for the next round. Historically speaking, Al Ansar managed to get good results against great teams from the Middle East. In both the Asian and Arab cups, Al Ansar achieved shining results in the 1990s with the presence of a special goalkeeper, Mohammed Al Shareef, known for his saves in penalty shoot outs.
During this period, Al Ansar managed to win against the Saudi team Al Shabab. With top players like Said Al Owairan and Fuad Anouar Amin who played in USA’s world cup in 1994, Al Shabab won against Al Ansar 3-0. However, their return to Beirut was astonishing. The Lebanese team won 3-0 and played penalty kicks to win at the end of the match and qualified for the next round. Another memorable match was against the Iranian team Pas. Pas had Iranian internationals like Modir Asghar Rosta. Both matches in Iran and Lebanon ended in draws 0-0. Penalty kicks were decisive and Mohammed Al Shareef was the hero that saved penalty kicks. Al Ansar was making history even though they ultimately didn’t win the cup...but they scored highly by raising Lebanon’s name.
Key Players
Key players are the cornerstones needed for a team to make good results in any kind of competition. In Al Ansar, many players of significant importance have been part of the team. Fadi Allouch was a ‘machine goal scorer’ who rarely missed balls against the goalkeeper’s adversaries.
Jamal Taha was an elegant midfielder through whom the majority of balls passed; his shots were powerful and his header was astonishing. Mohammed Mislimani played in front as a forward who scored many goals for the squad; he was Al Sharki’s favorite and he implemented the coach’s plans fully.
Abdel Fattah Chehab is a story in itself. Many Lebanese consider him to be the best Lebanese soccer player in post-war Lebanon. Others might name Moussa Hjeij from Nejmeh, however, Chehab had the pace of a rabbit....he would run and nobody could stop him without a tackle resulting in his injury. Chehab was no stranger to injuries; he was playing in Kuwait before he came to Lebanon. He was also a shining star within the Lebanese national team. When he quit playing, the Ansar fans felt that the team lost its major power: Abdel Fattah was the team’s beating heart.
Today, the team is trying to keep its maintain its name and reputation, however, this needs faith and work and perhaps a look at the past: maybe in search for another Abdel Fattah Chehab. It is not every day that a star like Chehab is found: his qualities were not only local but also regional and maybe even international.
