JEDDAH, 6 September 2006 — The Saudi soccer league kicked off yesterday with Fahd Falatah powering defending champions Al-Shabab with a pair of goals to a 2-1 victory over Al-Faisali last night in Riyadh.
Falatah got the first goal of the tournament on board with an 11th minute strike and then sealed the win for Shabab with another marker in the 52nd minute after Faisali star striker Saad Al-Zahrani equalized in the minutes 44.
The win put Shabab in the early lead with three points.
In Dammam, Al-Hilal escaped certain defeat against Al-Ittifaq with a last gasp equalizer in the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd competition.
Ittifaq were first to score in the 3rd minute courtesy of striker Yusri Al-Basha who took advantage of a defender’s mistake.
Ittifaq proved a tough opponent to Hilal and both teams played attacking football all evening. Ittifaq took the lead in the 53rd minute when Abdul Rahman Al-Qahtani scored a spectacular goal from outside the penalty box from a nice pass.
Hilal pushed forward in search of an equalizer while the Ittifaq gingerly tried to protect their 2-0 lead. Hilal’s pressure paid off in the 80th minute when a nice pass from team captain Nawaf Al-Tumyat to Rodrigo had the ball sliding past the left hand side of the goalie.
Hilal avoided defeat when Al-Tumyat converted a penalty in the last minute of injury time. Al-Tumyat stepped forward in the penalty box and laid the ball on the left hand side of the goalie. Al-Qadisiya are on top of Group C with 6 points with Hilal second with 4, Ittifaq third with one point and Khaleej last with no point.
Meantime, the Saudi national team will play the second round of the Asian Cup qualifying matches against winless India at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here today. Saudi Arabia lead Group A with 9 points after defeating Japan 1-0 last Sunday. The Saudis can seal their place in next year’s finals if they can overcome the Indians and Yemen fail to beat Japan.
Japan and South Korea will be hoping to get their qualifying campaigns back on track today after stumbling performances over the weekend.
After the loss to Saudi Arabia Japan face another tricky test away to Yemen today.
The Koreans, meanwhile, were held to a 1-1 draw in Seoul by fellow World Cup finalists Iran in Group B on Saturday. They resume today with what is expected to be an easy match at home against winless Chinese Taipei.
Japanese coach Ivica Osim took a 24-strong squad to the Middle East, minus any European-based players, and will have to rely on the same names against Yemen in Sana’a.
Yemen are third in the group with three points from three matches while second-placed Japan have six points. Osim’s side would progress with a victory after the 2-0 win over the Yemenis in Niigata last month gave them the head-to-head edge.
— Additional input from agencies
