JEDDAH, 1 November — Leaders Al-Ittihad continued their current good form when they scored a comfortable 4-0 win over Al-Wahda in the King’s Cup soccer competition in Makkah yesterday.
The winners, who led 1-0 at the interval, added more goals with better marksmanship after the interval. Having taken the lead through the ever reliable Sergio in the 28th minute, Ittihad scored through Osama Al-Muwallad (50th), Giarso (53rd) and Ricardo (74th).
In another closely contested match of the competition, Al-Hilal managed to beat Al-Ahli 3-2.
Al-Riyadh recorded a 1-0 win over Al-Nasr in a clash of two teams from the capital.
Al-Ittefaq got the better of Al-Najmah 2-0 in another match of the tournament.
Brazil leave veteran Romario
out of squad for qualifiers
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil have surprisingly left veteran striker Romario out of their squad for the decisive World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Venezuela next week.
The 35-year-old, still rated as Brazil’s most dangerous forward despite his age, was expected to be rewarded with a recall after a recent goal glut made him joint leading scorer in the Brazilian championship with 13.
But coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has chosen instead to include Corinthians striker Luizao — who has made an impressive return to action after a six-month absence caused by a knee injury — as he named the home-based players for the matches.
The decision has denied Romario a chance to repeat the rescue act he performed for Brazil eight years ago.
On that occasion, Romario returned from a year on the international sidelines — imposed for indiscipline — to score the two goals against Uruguay that guaranteed Brazil a place at the 1994 World Cup after a difficult qualifying campaign.
Brazil went on to win the trophy in the United States, with Romario scoring five goals.
This time, Brazil — the only country to play at every World Cup — have once again stumbled through the qualifiers and still need to make sure of a place in Japan and South Korea next year.
They are fourth in the South American qualifying group with 27 points, two more than fifth-placed Uruguay and six more than sixth-placed Colombia.King’s Cup.
