Doha: Umm Salal won their first Ooredoo Cup by defeating Al Arabi 3-1 on penalties after their thrilling final ended 4-4 in regular time at Grand Hamad Stadium yesterday. Landing Badji emerged as the hero after stopping two spot kicks in the shootout, as Umm Salal finally celebrated their triumph in the tournament after losing finals in 2011 and 2023. For Al Arabi, it was a third straight finals loss; they had previously lost in 2013 and 2020, leaving them without an Ooredoo Cup title. Nevertheless, the defending Amir Cup champions, Al Arabi, battled valiantly despite being reduced to 10 men in the first half. They came back from a three-goal deficit and nearly sealed the victory until substitute Ali Afif scored in stoppage time to save Umm Salal. Captain Andy Delort gave Umm Salal a flying start, heading the ball in from a close range following a sixth-minute corner kick. The Patrice Carteron-coached side suffered an injury blow as Delort was stretchered off after coming under a heavy tackle in the 25th minute. Umm Salal remained undeterred and doubled their lead with Ilyes Maxence Brimil scoring in the 37th minute, three minutes before Marouane Louadni's spectacular scissors kick put Umm Salal three goals clear of Younes Ali's side. A red card to Ahmed Moein in the 44th compounded Al Arabi's woes, but they finally got a breakthrough when they were awarded a penalty for a handball in stoppage time before the break. Omar Al Somah comfortably converted the spot kick before taking the Dream Team into the lead with a header in the 81st minute after substitutes Ibrahim Kala (49th minute) and Salem Reda (75th minute) equalised the scores. After Ali Afif, who came off the bench in the 79th minute, dragged the final to a penalty shootout with a goal from a close range in the first minute of stoppage time, Badji ensured Umm Salal went out of the pulsating final as winners. The goalkeeper blocked Al Somah's hit in Al Arabi's first attempt and cleared another strike, denying Wassem Keddari to seal victory after Kala had missed the target. Helal Mohamed was the only scorer for Al Arabi in the shootout. Victor Lekhal, Ali Hassan and Omar Yahya successfully scored for the Orange Fortress, while Al Arabi goalkeeper Amir Hassan stopped Khaled Abdelraouf's attempt.