JEDDAH, 4 September 2003 — Al-Ahli, last year’s runners-up in the King Fahd Soccer League, were stunned by Al-Shoala 3-1 in their second outing after a bright start to their campaign. Ahli, who had a poor run in the recently-concluded Sadaka event, continued their indifferent showing, yesterday in Al-Kharj, as they suffered yet another embarrassing away defeat.
In other matches of the league Al-Hilal and Al-Shabab shared four goals in the Riyadh derby at the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Stadium. Al-Nasr picked up their second win in their second match with a 2-1 verdict over Al-Taie in Hail.
Shabab had themselves to blame for dropping a point when they squandered a 2-0 first-half lead to a rejuvenated Hilal side. In a sustained period of domination Shabab went ahead in the 22nd minute when Ghanian Atram struck true from the spot, and Saleh Siddik shot in the second three minutes later.
Hilal fought back in the second half and took a point away from their rivals with a brilliant four-minute blitz. Hilal’s Trawari hit the first in the 86th minute and Muhammad Al Shaloub then rounded off the tally in the 90th minute.
Today Al-Riyadh take on Al-Khaleej in Riyadh, Al-Qadisiya meet Al-Ittifak in a Dammam derby and Al-Ittihad play Al-Wehda in Jeddah.
Real Scrape Away Draw,
Ronaldino Stars for Barca
A late goal by substitute Antonio Nunez earned Spanish champions Real Madrid a 1-1 draw away to a well-organized Villarreal side in their second match of the season on Tuesday. The young midfielder, making his league debut for Real, got his head to an outswinging David Beckham corner four minutes from time to cancel out a spectacular strike by Villarreal substitute Sonny Anderson.
The goal of the night, though, came from Barcelona’s Ronaldinho who scored with a brilliant solo effort to earn his side a 1-1 draw against Sevilla on his home debut in the late, late match at the Nou Camp. The Brazilian forward skipped his way past two Sevilla defenders before letting rip with an unstoppable shot from the edge of the area early in the second half to cancel out striker Jose Antonio Reyes’s 10th minute penalty for the visitors.
England captain Beckham, who scored after just three minutes of his home league debut on Saturday, made a less spectacular start for Real this time out, but gradually found his range from set pieces, nearly grabbing the winner with two dipping free kicks at the death.
In Tuesday’s other matches last season’s runners-up Real Sociedad were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Celta Vigo and have yet to record a victory this term. Serbian striker Darko Kovacevic put Sociedad in front with a 37th-minute header after former Celta midfielder Valery Karpin had dinked in a cross from the right, but the Galician side leveled the match when Savo Milosevic struck with a sharp volley midway through the second half.
Valencia were the only winners of the night after they claimed a 1-0 win over Osasuna, thanks to another headed goal, this time from midfielder Ruben Baraja early in the second half of a tight match at El Sadar.
No End in Sight for Serie B
Chaos as Clubs Stand Firm
Presidents of Serie B clubs called for the resignation of Italian Football Federation president Franco Carraro yesterday, escalating their threat to postpone the start of their season for a second time.
The club presidents, attending a meeting of the Italian Football League, are unhappy about the planned expansion of their division to 24 teams. The League represents clubs in Italy’s top two divisions and is attempting to prevent Serie B teams boycotting this weekend’s opening round of league matches, already postponed from last week.
“Carraro is unacceptable. It’s like playing cards against a man with aces up his sleeve,” said Massimo Cellino, president of Cagliari.
After a day of discussions, the two sides seemed no closer to agreement but will continue their talks today.
Earlier, Italian Football League President Adrian Galliani had tried to be upbeat. “On Sunday we’ll play for sure, postponement is impossible,” he told reporters.
