JEDDAH, 31 December 2007 — The Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Cup competition for players under 23 kicked off yesterday with four matches.
In Hail, Al-Ahli repaired the battered image of their first team with am emphatic 3-0 victory against Taie.
Al-Hilal defeated Najran 3-0 in another one-sided match at Prince Faisal ibn Fahd stadium in Riyadh.
Al-Nasr defeated Wehda in Makkah 3-1 and Al-Ittihad went down in a major defeat against Al-Watani 2-1 in Jeddah.
The victotry gave Ahli the early lead in Group A with 3 points followed by Nasr and then Al-Watani. Hilal lead Group B with three points pending the match between Shabab and Qadesiya today. The match pitting Al-Hazem and Al-Ittifaq was postponed to give way to Ittifaq’s final participation in Gulf Cup Championship.
Hilal is the winningest team in this competition with seven titles. They won in 1986, 1989, 1992, 1995, 1999, 2004 and 2005. Ahli, the defending champions, clinched titles three times in 2000, 2001 and 2006.
As well as Ittihad ( 1980, 1996 and 1998) Ittifaq have three titles under their belt, winning in 1990, 2002 and 2003. Nasr won in 75 and 97 and Shabab tallied successes in 1987 and 1988. Riyadh and Al-Qadisiya each won a championship in 1994 and 1993 respectively.
