Shabab Win Against Al-Ain, Hilal Held to Draw in AFC League

JEDDAH, 8 March 2007 — Al-Shabab opened their campaign in the 2007 AFC Champions League with an important 2-0 win against Al-Ain of UAE in the first leg match in UAE last night.

Atram of Shabab scored the opening goal in the 44th minute with a fine shot from inside the penalty box. Waleed Al-Jizani scored the second goal for Shabab in the 72nd minute.

In the other Group D match, Sepahan of Iran won the match against Al-Ittihad of Syria 2-1.

After last night’s games, Shabab took the lead in the group and Sepahan in second on goal difference. Both teams are equal on 3 points. Ittihad and Al-Ain are third and fourth with no points.

In the other match in Riyadh at King Fahd International Stadium with more than 50 thousand cheering fans, Al-Hilal failed to secure the game three points and keep the 1-0 lead after Kuwait of Kuwait scored a killing equalizer in the fourth minute of the added injury time. Rodrigo scored for Hilal in the 15th minute from a controversial header that landed on the goal line. The referee ruled that the ball was a goal while Kuwaiti players protested saying it was not a goal.

Kuwait were dangerous and defied the large partisan crowd that attended the match. Hilal’s defense line was not up to the performance level and Kuwait of Kuwait nearly scored on many occasions because of the defensive lapses. If it were not for Hilal goalkeeper Muhammad Al-Daie, the Kuwaiti team would have equalized in the first half.

The visitors’ equalizer came from a corner kick in the fourth minute of added time that Al-Daie failed to clear the corner cross and instead found the head of Fahd Awad who put the ball in the left hand side of the goalie.

This left 50,000 crowd in shock as Kuwait snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat. Prince Muhammad ibn Faisal, Hilal club president, expressed his dissatisfaction with the team saying that the players missed easy chances to score more than one goal and as a result lost a golden opportunity to win in front of the home crowd. Hilal and Kuwait share the lead in Group B with one point each.