MADINAH, 6 November 2005 — Al-Ittihad hammered out an emphatic 4-2 victory in the return match in the AFC Champions League final against Al Ain of United Arab Emirates last night to retain the title on aggregate score of 5-3. Both teams drew the first leg 1-1 on Oct. 26.
With the victory, Ittihad qualified for the FIFA World Club Championship to be held in Japan in December. The Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah was 90 percent full two and a half hours before kickoff, forcing stadium workers to close the gates.
There were tens of thousands more fans outside and the 30,000 who were lucky to get in were not disappointed as Ittihad played marvelous football all night long. After delaying their Eid celebrations on the eve of the big match, Ittihad fans started what is expected to be an extended celebration at the end of the match.
Ittihad showed their determination to win the championship from the first whistle. Ittihad scored an early goal in the fourth minute by Mohammad Callon from a free kick outside the penalty box. Having sent their message to the UAE team, Ittihad pressed their attack, scoring the second goal in the 32nd minute when a free kick by Brazilian international Chico was headed in by Muhammad Nur. The header went to the far right hand side of the goalkeeper, leaving him helpless to block the ball.
Al Ain scored their first goal when one of their players was tackled inside the penalty box by Chico. Shehab Ahmad scored the penalty kick for Al Ain. The celebration of the goal lasted only three minutes as Chico again gave a nice cross to Ittihad striker Joseph Job for a header. Al Ain mission to come back to the game went from difficult to impossible in the 68th minute when Nur gave a nice cross to Ahmad Al-Dokhi to the far left side of the penalty box.
Al-Dokhi did not waste the chance and effected a strong shot on the far right hand side of the goalie.
The celebration started from the 70th minute. Job was sent off by red card for hitting Al Ain defender. In the waning minutes of the match, Al Ain striker Tefada scored the second goal.
Prince Nawaf ibn Faisal, deputy president of the General Presidency of Youth welfare, congratulated the Saudi team saying that it was an honor to win the cup for the second time.
He said that Ittihad win is a clear message to the rest of the world that the Saudi football is No. 1 in the region. He congratulated Ittihad players and urged them to show a good performance in the club chamionship.
