Al Rayyan are the Qatar Stars League champions, and the way they did it would be etched in the country’s sporting folklore for long.
Jorge Fossati’s men swept aside all comers to sweep the title with five matches to spare and lay a marker for all future champions to emulate.
The only problem is they probably won’t, at least for a few years to come.
Yesterday, playing their 21st match of the league, they only needed to draw with Al Wakrah to ensure enough points and nail the title. But a draw was not in their plans and they did it in a manner that has become their trademark: they coasted to a 5-1 win.
It was Al Rayyan’s first title win since the 1994-95 season. Coached by shrewd Uruguayan Fossati, they relied on goals from ace strikers Rodrigo Tabata and Sebastian Soria to launch their goal-scoring spree.
 Spain’s Sergio Garcia scored the third goal in the 57th minute as Al Rayyan moved towards completing a comprehensive win. South Korean midfielder Koh scored the fourth for Al Rayyan in the 67th minute.
Victor Javier Caceres joined in the fun to score Al Rayyan’s fifth goal in the 72nd minute. After 21 rounds, Al Rayyan have an unassailable tally of 60 points.
In the on-going season, Al Rayyan’s only defeat has come against Al Sadd when the two sides clashed on December 10.
It has been a remarkable journey for Al Rayyan who were relegated to the second division at the end of 2013-14 season. They won the second division title the following season and won a promotion to QSL.
Since September last year, it has been Al Rayyan all the way with just one blip against Al Sadd almost three months ago. After a slightly cagey start to the round 21 clash at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Al Rayyan got their act together to put pressure on Al Wakrah.
In the 8th minute, Hamid Ismail chipped in a neat lob from the flank but Soria failed to connect from close range, missing power on his flick. Soon afterwards Al Rayyan discarded the iffy game and played to their potential with slick moves.
Influential striker and captain Tabata opened the scoring in the 37th minute while Soria flicked one home from close range to give Al Rayyan the 2-0 cushion going into half time.
Seconds before the kick-off Fossati was shown on the large screen inside the stadium seemingly praying with his hands folded but Al Rayyan players ensured a straight forward win would be the order of the day.
With thousands of Al Rayyan of fans present at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, the visitors put up an impressive show in front of audience that also included Qatar national coach Daniel Carreno.
Jose Mauricio, coach of Al Wakrah, made several changes on the field of play but a determined Al Rayyan were not to be denied their QSL crown.
In the 57th minute, Soria found an unmarked Garcia in the Al Wakrah box and the former Espanyol striker curled one past goalkeeper Hassan Idriss Dicko for his side’s third goal.
Within a space of five minutes, Garcia and Caceres also added their names to the goal-scorer’s list. Perhaps the only blemish came when Al Rayyan’s Tahir Zakariya was slapped by a yellow card by referee Abdulrahman Abdu who otherwise had an easy game to officiate.
Tabata, who was benched in the 87th minute, hugged coach Fossati before celebrating with his teammates in the dugout. Minutes later, the talismanic captain who has been the standout player for the Lions lifted the falcon shield much to the delight of the Rayyan fans in attendance.  
“It was a fantastic tournament for us and the boys have really showed what they are capable of,” Fossati said. “We were determined to win the league at the start, but we never thought we would win it so convincingly,” the Uruguayan, who previously has also coached the Qatar national team, said.
Fossati, however, said Al Rayyan will not rest on their laurels.
“We have the Qatar Cup and the Emir Cup coming up. We will celebrate hard but after a few days it will be back to football.”