JEDDAH, 4 February 2005 — Al-Shabab scored an emphatic 2-0 victory over Al-Taie of Hail and Wehda of Makkah downed Al-Riyadh of Riyadh 2-1 Wednesday in the King Fahd Cup soccer tournament.
The victory left Shabab just two points adrift of idle and fellow Riyadh-based squad Al-Hilal in the team standings. Shabab stayed on second place with 33 points while Hilal continued their reign at the top with 35 points.
The Shabab goals were scored by Manga in the ninth minute and Naji Majrashi in the 90th minute.
The defeat dropped Taie to seventh spot with 19 points.
Ala Al-Kuwaikbi scored both goals of Wehda in the fifth and 54th minute, while Eman Sulaiman accounted for Riyadh’s only goal in the 13th minute.
With the win, Wehda jumped to sixth position with 19 points, while Riyadh were stuck in 10th with 13 points.
Meantime, Hilal captain Sami Al-Jaber will take over the spot on the Kingdom national team vacated by Hamza Idrees who has quit due to a death in the family.
The Saudi national coach Argentinian Gabriel Calderon called the Hilal skipper to join the team.
Al-Jaber handed his passport to the Saudi Football Federation to facilitate visa to Turkey and Uzbekistan.
Al-Jaber will leave for Turkey next Sunday then on to Uzbekistan where he is likely to make the final selection to meet the Uzbeks in a World Cup qualifiying match.
