JEDDAH, 11 February 2007 — As celebrations started at the Ahli sports club at Tahleya Street, angry Ittihad fans gathered at Ittihad’s football ground on Sahafa Street to express their anger at the coach for their huge loss in the finals on Friday night.
Ittihad suffered a major defeat against Ahli in the final match of the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Cup at the Jeddah’s Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium. Some Ittihad fans blamed the coach for playing defensive, while others blamed bad luck and the absence of key players.
Ahli fans on the other hand congratulated the team and the club for their huge achievement in securing the first title of the season. The Ahli Club administration announced a SR30,000 reward for each player for securing the title and have promised that other incentives are on the way.
Prince Khaled ibn Abdullah, president of the honorary member board of Ahli Club, congratulated the team for the great achievement in a telephone call to Ahli Club president from abroad. Prince Khaled expressed his joy when he saw Ahli players playing with high spirit. He said that Ahli was in brilliant shape throughout the match. Ahli players managed to overcome the psychological pressures they were in within the first 15 minutes of the match.
Abdul Raheem Ahmad, an Ahli fan, said that the Ahli players proved that the Ittihad Club can be defeated. “Before the match they were speaking as if they had already won the cup and that they were more than sure they would win. They paid the price and the price was heavy. Respecting your opponent is very important. What Ahli players need to do now is focus more on what is coming and leave the internal fighting. We have a very important match coming in the Arab Champions League and we must show the best performance in the Saudi League in order to compete in the King Trophy,” he said.
On the other side, Ittihad fans were not happy at losing 3-0 against their arch-foe. Some Ittihad fans called for the resignation of Mansour Al-Balawi, president of the Ittihad club. They blamed him for the club’s deteriorating condition and said that he was spoiling players with money. Others called for more unity and advised fans to put the game behind them and focus on what is coming.
Faisal Eshfaqa, an Ittihad fan, said that the match was embarrassing for fans. “I have never seen Ittihad players performing this badly before the season,” he said, adding, “I think the coach is to blame because he came to the match with a messed up formation. How on earth could a coach think of playing with one striker in the front line of a final match? What was the point of keeping Hamza Idris on the bench? Why was midfielder Muhammad Amin kept on the side and not allowed to play? I think the coach deliberately wanted Ittihad to lose.”
Hashem Mansour, another Ittihad fan, blamed the media for assuring the players and fans that the match would be played in favor of Ittihad. “I personally put the blame on Manaf Abu Shgeer for losing the match. If he didn’t act stupidly and didn’t get a red card then Ittihad would have made a come back in the match. How could a man who is playing professional football act like this and get a red card? It was because of him that the team was down two players instead of one, which made it hard for the team to play.”
