JEDDAH, 12 January 2006 — The Saudi Football League will resume tomorrow with an important match between Al-Ahli and Al-Nasr at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah. Ahli are currently ranked third with 18 points after a shocking loss to Al-Wehda of Makkah 1-0 in Jeddah last Friday. Nasr on the other hand are ranked ninth with 10 points after suffering an embarrassing defeat in the Arab Champions League against Wehdat of Jordan in Amman last week. Nasr are looking forward to advancing to a higher position and are trying to stay away from the lower rank. Ahli want to stop the slide knowing how crucial it is to lose points at the second stage of the league. Ahli are facing double trouble as most of its international players were called for national duty and have joined training camp, while the other key players cannot join the team as they either injured or out of play due to penalty cards. Ahli will be missing its 10 key players in the forthcoming matches. Ahli will recall former striker Waleed Al-Jizani, who was lent to Al-Ohod of Madinah, to play with the team.
Tomorrow’s other matches will be played between Al-Qadiseya and Al-Shabab in Dammam, Al-Taie and Al-Abha in Hail and Al-Hazem against Al-Ittifaq in Al-Rass. The league will continue on Sunday with a crucial match between Al-Ittihad and Al-Wehda in Jeddah, while Al-Ansar face Al-Hilal in Riyadh. From looking at the standings, we see Shabab on top with 28 points followed by Hilal, who gave up the lead after the 2-2 draw last week against Al-Hazem. Hilal are at second place with 27 points. The gap between the second and third ranks has increased to nine points, which is signaling an early qualification of the best of four for Hilal and Shabab. Wehda advanced to fourth position after defeating Ahli 1-0 in Jeddah and looked forward to continuing their winning streak against Ittihad in the Sunday match. Qadiseya, Ittihad, Taie, Hazem and Nasr are in the warm middle rank zone and Ittifaq, Abha and Ansar remain the dangerous bottom ranks.
First Division League: In the First Division League, Al-Jabaleen continued to dominate with 25 points from 13 matches. Riyadh is second with 21 points from 12 matches followed by Al-Khaleej, whose in third place with 21 points from 13 matches after losing against Jabaleen 3-0. The competition is still high between the first six ranks as the gap between the first and sixth is only six points.
Basketball League: The second round of the basketball league ended with Al-Ittihad on top as the defending champion. The round ended with no defeats for Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli and no wins for Al-Khaleej and Al-Fateh. Ittihad is in first place with eight points from four matches and Ahli is second, also with eight points from four matches. Al-Qadiseya is third ranked with six points followed by Ansar with six points. Al-Ohod is in the fifth slot with five points. The league will resume play after next week.
Handball: The handball league ended with Al-Khaleej on top. The league will stop play for the next two months as its players join up with the national team. The competition will resume with a special series of matches among the top six ranking teams. The final ranking in round 11 showed Al-Khaleej on top with 18 points, Al-Qadiseya second with 18 points, Ahli third with 16 points, Al-Noor fourth with 14 points, Al-Wehda fifth with 13 points, Al-Mudar sixth with 11 points, Al-Adala seventh with 11 points, Al-Hilal eighth with nine points, Al-Hazem ninth with seven points and Safa tenth with seven points.
Volleyball: Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal continued to dominate the Saudi Volleyball League, leaving behind the rest of the teams to compete for the remaining positions. Al-Ahli ended first round undefeated after 13 matches and currently is preparing for the Arab competition in Cairo. Al--Hilal are currently ranked in first place with 32 points from 17 matches. Al-Ahli are ranked second with 26 points from 13 matches. Al-Nasr are in the third slot with 16 points. Al-Ittihad are fourth with 16 points. Al-Safa are fifth with 16 points. Al-Nahda are sixth with 10 points.
Saudi Arabia and Czechs Plan World Cup Friendly: World Cup finalists Czech Republic and Saudi Arabia will clash in a friendly international in the Austrian city of Innsbruck on May 26, the Czech football federation (CMFS) said in Prague yesterday. “We will very probably play against Saudi Arabia as part of our training camp in Austria,” said Petr Fousek, the general secretary of CMFS. The Czechs will also take on Turkey on March 1 and will play two more friendlies before the World Cup finals get under way in Germany on June 9. Coach Karel Bruckner wants his team to face an African side as well as a South American team on those two dates. At the finals, the Czechs will face the United States, Ghana and Italy in Group E.
