JEDDAH, 26 August 2006 — Al-Faisali surprised everyone when they crushed Al-Nasr 4-1 in Khurm yesterday in the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd football tournament.
The result raised a lot of questions on Nasr performance and whether the team did benefit from the training camp before the competition as they struggled against the league newcomer.
Ex-Nasr player Saad Al-Zahrani scored the first two goals for Al-Faisali and the first half ended with Faisali ahead at 2-0.
Nasr pulled one back with a Talal Al-Meshal goal to start the first half only to reel anew from a third Faisali goal by Abdullah Hamad. Nasr performance deteriorated and Khaled Al-Salama capped Faisali’s goalfest with the fourth goal of the team. Nasr sank bottom of Group A with one point and Al-Faisali took the lead with four points.
At Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here, Al-Ittihad secured the full three points against Al-Wehda with a questionable goal in the 30th minute by Tariq Al-Muwallad. Wehda players objected to the goal saying it was an offside.
All Wehda efforts to come back to the game were met with a well-organized Ittihad defense. Ittihad also have four points from two games in Group A but are in second place because of goal difference.
Meanwhile, the opening matches of the GCC Champions League saw Al-Salmiyah of Kuwait crush Muscat of Oman 5-1, Al-Qadisiya, another Kuwaiti club, and Bahrain’s Al-Muharraq battle to goalless draw and host Al-Hilal draw with Al-Rifa of Bahrain. Rifa scored the first goal in the 14th minute and Tavares equalized for Hilal with a header in the 75th minute. A total of 12 clubs are entered in the competition that will run through Aug. 30. The teams are divided into three groups. The top team from each group will advance into the semifinal along with the best second placed team in the group matches.
