JEDDAH, 31 January 2005 — Al-Hilal of Riyadh handed Asian champions Al-Ittihad a shocking 4-2 defeat in the lone match of King Fahd Cup soccer tournament at the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Stadium in Riyadh last night.
Hilal, playing at full strength, got the upper hand through Camacho in the 9th minute of the first half.
Ittihad still absorbing the jerk, got another shock when Sami Al-Jaber, the brilliant skipper of Hilal, added one more in the 14th minute.
The first half was completely dominated by striking Hilal, who didn’t lose their grasp of the game and their efforts paid well when they stunned the indomitable lions by putting them in the cage after scoring the third goal through Tafarees in the 43rd minute.
Hilal ended the first half taking a big 3-0 lead.
Stunned by Hilal’s brilliant performance and shortage of star players due to national duty and injuries, Ittihad came in the second half with vigor and were determined to shrink the gap.
The tactics Ittihad used paid dividend, but despite Marzooq Al-Otaibi’s double, Ittihad lost the ground.
Al-Otaibi scored the first goal for his team in the 55th minute after receiving a nice pass from a teammate and shot the ball from inside the penalty box.
But their joy was short-lived as Camacho struck again in the 56th minute after receiving a pass from Sami whose solo efforts made it possible for Camacho to net his second and team’s fourth goal.
Jaber dodged Hilal’s goalkeeper and gave a cross to Camacho who found no difficulty in netting the ball. Al-Otaibi, in the 71st minute, struck again but it was of no consequence.
With this victory, Hilal remain on top of the standings with 35 points in the chart while Ittihad are third with 25 points.
