JEDDAH, 12 March 2008 — Two-time champions Al-Ittihad and their city rivals Al-Ahli open campaign in the 2008 AFC Champions League today.
Ittihad are at home to Quruvchi Tashkent of Uzbekistan at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah, while Ahli are away to Al-Saad of Qatar in Doha. Both teams are playing their opening first leg match.
Urawa of Japan are the defending champions. Al-Ain of UAE won in 2003, followed by Ittihad in 2004 and 2005, while Chonbuk of South Korea were the champions in 2006.
Buoyed by their remarkable season in the Saudi league, Ittihad will be out to collar the three points and restore their reputation as among the elites in this competition.
Ittihad are bracketed in Group A with Quruvchi Tashkent of Uzbekistan, Ittihad of Syria, and Sepahan of Iran.
Ittihad are expected to use the 4-4-2 format where they will rely heavily on Muhammad Nur and Chico. The Ittihad coach is likely to introduce some new faces in the match like Abdullah Haidar, Akeel Al-Qarni and Abdul Rahman Al-Qahtani. The defense line is what worries Ittihad though Akeel Al-Qarni will be there to support defender Saud Kariri. And support of the home crowd should put Ittihad in fine fettle.
Ahli arrived in Doha late Monday to prepare for the very strong match against the hosts. Ahli are in Group C with Al-Saad of Qatar, Al-Karama of Syria and Al-Wehda of UAE. Ahli face a tough task against reputedly strong competition in the group. No major changes in the team are unlikely to happen. Ahli club president Ahmad Al-Marzooki told Arab News that the match is going to be very difficult for Ahli.
He said: “We must take the game three points and a win in the opening match will be a strong motivation for Ahli.” Malek Muaz, Ahli striker, said that they would win the match and dedicate the win to their loyal fans. “We respect our opponent as a very strong team with large fans. We suffered a lot lately because of injures and absence of some players like Saheb Al-Abdullah, Tayseer Al-Jasim and Kaio, but we are ready with the players we have.”
The Riyadh-based Hilal club was the only Saudi team to participate in the 2003 edition of the league. Hilal landed in Group C with Al-Ain of UAE, Al-Saad of Qatar and Esteghlal Tehran of Iran. Hilal exited the competition with mere three points in fourth place.
Ittihad and Hilal participated in the 2004 tournament. Ittihad were in Group D with Sepahan of Iran, Al-Arabi of Kuwait and Neftchi Fargona of Uzbekistan. Ittihad finished first with 13 points and qualified to the quarterfinals where they faced Dailan Shide of China. Ittihad drew 1-1 in the first leg match and secured a 1-0 win in the second leg. Ittihad faced Jeonbuk of South Korea and won first leg match 2-1 and drew 2-2 in the second leg match to qualify to the final against Seongnam Iihawa of South Korea. Ittihad lost the first leg match 3-1 but secured an astonishing 5-0 win in the second leg match to win their first of two titles.
Ahli, Shabab joined defending champions Ittihad in 2005. Ahli qualified of Group S with 15 points. Ahli lost in the aggregate of the quarterfinals against Shenzhen of China after winning the first leg match 2-1 and losing the second leg match 3-1. Shabab did not qualify from Group C after they came third with 10 points. Ittihad were seeded in quarterfinals being the defending champions facing Shandong of China. Ittihad tied in the first leg match 1-1 but crushed the team in the second leg match 7-1.
Ittihad faced Busan of South Korea in the first leg match of the semifinals winning 5-0 in the first leg match and 2-0 in the second leg match. In the final, Ittihad faced Al-Ain of UAE winning the aggregate of 5-3. Ittihad drew 1-1 in the first leg match and won 4-2 in the second leg match.
In 2006, Shabab, Hilal and Ittihad represented the Saudi trio in the tournament. Hilal did not make the quarterfinals after coming second with 10 points. Shabab qualified for the quarterfinals after coming first with 13 points from Group D. Shabab faced Ulsan of South Korea in the quarterfinals. Shabab lost 6-0 in the first leg match and 1-0 in the second leg match. Ittihad won 2-0 against Al-Karama of Syria in the final eight but lost the second leg match 4-0 and exited the competition.
Shabab and Hilal returned in the 2007 staging of the Champions League. Hilal reached the quarterfinals after coming first of Group B with 8 points. Hilal faced Al-Wehda of UAE in the quarterfinals. Hilal drew 0-0 in the first leg match and 1-1 in the second and exited the competition. Shabab failed to advance after coming second of Group D with 10 points.
