JEDDAH, 28 May 2004 — Al-Ahli of Jeddah, expected to turn in yet another stirring display at the King Fahd International Stadium after a 5-1 defeat of Al-Hilal a week earlier, were at the receiving end yesterday against yet another Riyadh team — Al-Shabab.
In a match which saw fortunes swing from end-to-end, Shabab secured the winner just ten minutes from time to dash Ahli’s hopes of setting up a Jeddah derby against Al-Ittihad in the King Fahd Cup Soccer final. Shabab won 2-1 after the teams had been level 1-1 at the break.
The recent resurgence of Ahli had created the likelihood of them going all the way to the finale. Though they exhibited the same verve they had displayed against Hilal, they found the Shabab defense better organized. Also Shabab, willing to soak up the pressure, too applied similar pressure on the Ahli defense, and on the given day Shabab got that one that really mattered.
Ahli dominated the early proceedings and when they went one-up in the 25th minute it looked like Ahli would be on the ascendancy. Rogerio worked his way into the box and slotted in a neat shot past Shabab goalkeeper Rashid Migrani to the roars of the Ahli fans.
But Shabab fans were soon on their feet five minutes later when Atram brought the game on even keel, beating Ahli keeper Mansour Al-Najaie with a clinical finish.
Both the teams mounted attacks with intricate moves, but the rival defense weathered the attacks. But in the 80th minute Muhammad Manga broke through the Ahli defense and with only Najaie to beat made no mistake.
Mourinho Signs Off in Style as Porto Lift Cup
In Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Porto were crowned European champions for the second time as three brilliantly taken goals sealed an emphatic 3-0 victory over Monaco at the Arena AufSchalke stadium on Wednesday, add agencies.
Minutes after the Champions League final Porto coach Jose Mourinho said he was leaving the club after guiding them to their fifth and most important prize in just over two years in charge.
“This is almost for sure my last match (in charge of Porto) but I think in two years we did great,” Mourinho told reporters.
“I’m very proud of what we did but the time to leave has arrived. It’s the best way (to bow out). It was 2-1/2 years and it was fantastic, absolutely fantastic. We won everything.
“In the next few days I will decide everything. I have to speak to the club (Porto) because I still have a contract with them but I have to move. My desire is to leave.”
A curling volley by 19-year-old Brazilian Carlos Alberto after 39 minutes, a well-drilled shot from Deco Souza (71) and a pile driver from Russian substitute Dmitri Alenichev (75) buried Monaco, who never recovered from losing captain Ludovic Giuly to injury midway through the first half.
Porto’s victory, just a year after Mourinho guided them to the UEFA Cup, was, as ever, based on tireless team-work and a rock solid defense. Monaco striker Fernando Morientes never remotely had a chance of adding to the 11 Champions League goals he has scored this season. Porto became the first team since Liverpool in 1976 and 1977 to be crowned European champions the year after winning the UEFA Cup, and apart from a brief spell when they lost concentration at the start of the second half, they always looked the more likely winners.
Porto came out on top of an ultimately entertaining match but the omens did not look good after both sides made ultra-cautious starts.
Following last year’s tedious final between AC Milan and Juventus, which was decided on penalties after a 0-0 draw, this game looked in danger of developing along similar lines.
That changed six minutes before the break, however, when some South American magic from Carlos Alberto put Porto ahead.
He was the first to react to a ball that took a deflection off a defender, curling home a superbly-taken volley, which gave goalkeeper Flavio Roma no chance and made him the third youngest scorer in the final’s history after Patrick Kluivert in 1995 and Brian Kidd in 1968.
Monaco came out strongly in the second half searching for an equalizer and created more chances in the first 10 minutes after the break than they had done throughout the first half.
But with Nuno Valente, Ricardo Carvalho, Jorge Costa and Paulo Ferreira playing superbly at the back, they could find no way through.
The one time Monaco did look like breaching the defense, they allowed Porto to regain possession and moments later the ball was in the back of the French side’s net.
Porto’s counterattack ended with Deco trading passes with Alenichev before scoring the decisive second goal after 71 minutes. Four minutes later Alenichev took advantage of another defensive error to blast home the third goal that brought the European Cup back to Porto for the first time since 1987.
Zidane Keen to Get Back to Winning Ways With France
In La Grande Motte, France’s Zinedine Zidane cannot wait for the Euro 2004 finals to get under way so he can put behind him a disappointing season with Real Madrid.
France start the defense of the European Championship title they won in Rotterdam four years ago against England on June 13 in Lisbon. “I want to play and to win again,” the midfield playmaker said. “I want to experience feelings I missed with my club over the last two months. There is nothing like a victory.”
His club Real were eliminated by Monaco in the Champions League quarterfinals, lost in the final of Spain’s King’s Cup and finished fourth in the Primera Liga.
