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Tribune News Network
DOHA
El Jaish had a productive season, finishing as runners-up to Al Rayyan Club in the Qatar Stars League table. Whilst winning the Qatar Cup for a second time, they also reached the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League for the first time in their history.
The army team grabbed 14 victories and earned six draws in 26 matches in the past season, to total 48 points, one more than third-placed Al Sadd Club.
Sabri Lamouchi, the head coach of El Jaish, was rewarded for his effort and his contract has been renewed for the next two seasons. The French has had many accomplishments with his side in the last season, including qualifying for the quarter-finals of the prestigious AFC Champions League for the first time in club history, winning the Qatar Cup for the second time and ending the QSl season as runners-up.
Lamouchi, delighted to renew his contract with the team until the 2017-18 season, said in a special statement to the club that he was happy with his experience as coach in the Qatari league and he hopes to win more tournaments and titles with the club in the future.
El Jaish struck 48 goals, the fourth highest figure in the League. Defensively, they were sound as they only conceded 29 goals, the second least in the League. Al Rayyan gave away the fewest goals (23) in the QSL in the past season.
Lamouchi instilled a counter-attacking style of play with a lethal striker in Abdelrazzak Hamedallah upfront as 19 percent of their goals came from winning the ball in the opponent's half. The Soldiers started their matches strong with 12 of their goals coming only in the first 15 minutes of their games.
Hamedallah, El Jaish's bullish number 9, ended the season as joint top-scorer along with Al Rayyan's skipper Rodrigo Tabata at 21 goals. Hamdellah showed an excellent work rate throughout the season with 21.9 kms of high intensity distance covered. The Moroccan also averaged the third highest shots per game in the QSL and scored 44 percent of El Jaish's goals.
Brazilian defender Lucas Mendes also had an excellent season and was rock at the heart of the second best defense in the league this season. The centre-back ranked ninth in terms of interceptions per game (16.6). He was also the fourth highest passer for the Soldiers this season.
El Jaish, under the master tactician Lamouchi, are expected to be quite tough next season and if they are hoping to improve on their position next season and looking to win the QSL title, it will not be surprising.
