JEDDAH, 25 January 2007 — Al-Shabab hammered out a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Al-Ahli last night in the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Cup football tournament.
With the win Shabab, who came back from two goals down, qualified for the semifinals as the winner of Group B. The teams drew the first leg match 1-1.
Meanwhile, in today’s matches Jeddah-based Al-Ittihad host Al-Nasr in Group A and Al-Hilal entertain Al-Ittifaq in Riyadh in a Group B tie.
Ittihad lead Group A with 11 points from three wins and two draws. Nasr are second with 8 points from two wins, two draws and one defeat. All indications point to an Ittihad victory over Nasr whose chances to qualify as second- place team are slim. Nasr will earn 11 points if they defeat Ittihad but that might not be enough because Al-Qadisiya and Shabab have better chances to qualify.
Ittihad need a win or a draw to qualify. Ittihad could also qualify if they lost the match because they will equal with Nasr at 11 points but the goal advantage play strongly in favor of Ittihad. The other match of the group features Wehda against Al-Faisali. This match is not effective as teams lost the chance to qualify for the next round. Al-Faisali are third with 5 points and already out of competition and Wehda last with 2 points.
Hilal lead the group with 11 points from three wins and two draws. Ittifaq are last in the group with two points from two draws and three losses.
Hilal must secure the game three points to qualify regardless of the result of the match between Qadisiya and Khaleej in Dammam. Qadisiya are in second place with 10 points, one point adrift of Hilal. Khaleej are third with 4 points and already out of the competition. Qadisiya need to secure the game three points to qualify and hope that Hilal tie or lose the match against Ittifaq.
