Romarinho has made a good impression so far with El Jaish with his striking prowess, and yesterday he gave yet another example of his obvious class with a match-winning performance against Qatar Sports Club in the Emir Cup semi-finals.

The diminutive playmaker struck the winning goal in the second half in time added on as El Jaish won 2-1 to stay on course for their first-ever Emir Cup title which will kick-off next Saturday.

In a match that had little to shout about apart from Qatar Sports Club’s only goal – a beautiful volley by Hamdi Harboui, it was Romarinho who proved decisive come the final whistle.

El Jaish’s first goal also came thanks to the industry of the Brazilian Romarinho in the 40^th minute.  A zigzagging 45 yard run left the Qatar Sports Club defence tackling thin air, but with only the goalkeeper Mohamed Mubarak to beat, Romarinho agonizingly struck the far post.

Luckily for El Jaish, the ball rebounded to Abdelqader Ilyas lurking inside the box as the forward scored with a measured left-footed shot.

Five minutes earlier, Harbaoui showed that he possessed the agility of a gymnast as he volleyed a high cross from Abdulla al-Dayani  into the back of the net and past a hapless Ahmed Sofyan.

El Jaish were hampered by the fact that three of their key players—Wagner Ribeiro, Wessam Rizq and Mohamed Methnani — had off days. They struggled to move the ball forward, leaving Romarinho and Ilyas up front to fend for themselves.

Romarinho could have settled the match midway through the second half with a powerful header but goalkeeper Mubarak pulled off a good save to keep his side in it.

With the referee adding five minutes to the match, it became a desperate scramble by both teams, keen on avoiding the lottery of the dreaded penalty shoot-out, but Qatar Sports Club neglected their defensive duties as they gambled by pushing men forward as they ended up paying the ultimate price.

With less than two minutes to go, forward Mohamed Muntari found himself perfectly positioned to collect a long pass, and after a well-timed run on the left he crossed to Romarinho, who scored without much difficulty.

Qatar will feel frustrated after a great season which saw them finish in 4^th spot in the Qatar Stars League but who failed to win any silverware this season.

El Jaish on the other hand, have put the Qatar Cup final loss to Lekhwiya behind them, it seems and will now have another stab at collecting a trophy this season.