JEDDAH, 9 January 2007 — The final first leg quarterfinal Group A match in Arab Champions League competition ended yesterday with CA Bordj Bou Arreridj of Algeria in first place with five points after a 1-1 draw against Al-Qadisiya of Kuwait in Kuwait.
The match nearly ended in favor of the Algerian team who took the lead in the 66th minute of the second half. Many thought the match would end this way until Musaed Nada of Kuwait scored the equalizer in injury time.
Al-Qadisiya jumped to third position with 4 points and the Jeddah-based club Al-Ahli dropped to the last position with mere three points. El Zamalek of Egypt finished in second place on goal difference with 4 points in a tie with Qadisiya who ranked third.
A quick look at the standing shows that the gap between the first and last is only two points, which means the second leg matches will be crucial for all teams. For Ahli to qualify they should earn the nine remaining points in second leg matches and take advantage of the two home matches against CA Bordj Bou Arreridj and El Zamalek. Ahli have only one away match against Qadisiya in Kuwait.
Al-Faisali of Jordan defeated ES Setif of Algeria 1-0 in the last first leg match of Group-B in the same competition. The only goal of the match came in the 36th minute by Qusai Abu Aliya.
Al-Faisali topped the group with 9 points from three wins and no defeat. ES Setif finished second with 4 points from one win against Nasr 2-1, a draw against Kuwait of Kuwait 0-0 and a defeat against Al-Faisali 1-0. Nasr finished third with only three points and Kuwait last with one point. It is very crucial for Nasr to win the next second leg matches in order to qualify at least second of the group. Any draw or defeat in the next three matches would put Nasr in a bind, especially since it is almost certain that Al-Faisali will qualify it first of the group and the next spot a toss-up between Setif and Nasr.
The second leg matches will start on Feb. 13.
