JEDDAH, 7 July 2005 — Al-Hilal hosts Al-Ittihad in the second match of the stepladder final today in the King Fahd Cup soccer tournament.
The winner in the knockout game at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh goes on to meet top qualifier Al-Shabab in a winner-take-all battle for the crown.
Ittihad earned a crack at No. 2 Hilal after they eliminated another Riyadh-based team and fourth qualifier Al-Nasr 6-0 in the first stepladder clash in Jeddah last month.
In their eight head-to-head matches this season, Ittihad hold the edge with four wins to Hilal’s three. They drew one match.
Now, Hilal will be looking to square the season series against Ittihad with a victory and a chance to win the tournament’s grand prize.
The prospects though are anything but easy with a highly-motivated Ittihad coming off fresh from winning the Arab Champions League title against Sfaxin of Tunisia.
Should Ittihad advance they will have the chance to avenge their 1-0 defeat by Shabab in the final of last year’s tournament in addition to the fact that the will have the advantage of playing before a home crowd.
Entering the big match today, Hilal’s lineup has been depleted by injuries. Hilal lost the services of veteran goalkeeper Muhammad Al-Daie, midfielder Nawaf Al-Temyat, defender Tafarees and captain Sami Al-Jaber.
Hilal coach Baketa expects Al-Temyat and Tafarees to recover and dress for the Ittihad mathc, while Al-Jaber remains a doubtful starter. In any case, Baketa will be tapping the services of the second liners Aziz, Al-Ghannam, Al-Anbar and Al-Barkan. Aziz and Al-Ghannam are likely to play alongside Muhammad Al-Shalhoub and Camacho.
In the event of Al-Jaber’s absence in the front line, the coach is expected to use the Al-Anbar -Al-Suwaileh striking force.
Ittihad on the other hand will focus on launching attacks from wings using Ibrahim Suwaid and Musfer Al-Qahtani. Muhammad Nur and Sergio are to man the attacking line supported by Manaf Abu Shgeer and Al-Sagri in the back line.
Meantime, Ittihad club President Mansour Al-Balawi signed Qadisiya player Abdu Hakami as part of their buildup for the next season.
Al-Balawi did not say the amount of money involved in the deal although he did say that Hakami has bee contracted for five seasons.
He said that had been eyeing Hakami eight months ago but they chose to delay the negotiations based on the request of Jasim Al-Yakoot, Qadisiya president.
Al-Balawi will announce next week the name of the international player that will join the team’s title-retention campaign in the AFC Champions League.
