JEDDAH, 2 April 2008 — Riyadh rivals Al-Nasr and Al-Hilal take to the field today for the final of the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Cup football tournament at the King Fahd International Stadium, each consumed with a desire to win the second major trophy of the season.
This is the first time in years the teams come face to face in a final. For Nasr this is the chance to end a nine-year title drought as they seek to put the smile back on their fans’ faces, more so because the win would be against their archrivals.
Hilal, who hold the upper hand in their head-to-head with Nasr, will be looking to complete a potential double after having won the Crown Prince Cup title earlier this year against Al-Ittifaq.
Nasr reached the semifinal after coming second of Group A with 19 points from five wins, four draws and one loss. Ahli came first of the group with 22 points. Hilal qualified for the semifinal after coming second of the Group B with 22 points from seven wins, one draw and two losses. Shabab came first of the group with 24 points. Nasr faced Shabab in the semifinals of the competition in Riyadh and managed to win by 7-6. The match ended 2-2 in regular time and Nasr secured the match in penalty kicks 5-4. Hilal faced Ahli at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal stadium in Jeddah and Hilal won 1-0.
Hilal fans are confident their team would pass the test though as finals go anything could happen.
Hilal are considered the biggest team in the Saudi league and know how to win, while Nasr are without a title for more than nine years now.
To dissect the strengths of the sides, Hilal have the edge over Nasr who have problems mainly in midfield and defense line.
Hilal’s marquee player Yaser Al-Qahtani, however, is a doubtful starter. He was injured during the national team’s World Cup Asian qualifyin game against Uzbekistan and did not join the team’s training a day before the match. His status is day-to-day and he will undergo extensive medical checkup and treatment before a final decision on his participation is made.
Nasr pin their hopes on Saad Al-Harithy in the striking line. Al-Harithy, however, is expected to face a lot of difficulty from the midfield line that is considered Nasr’s weakest link, compared with Hilal who have pillars Mohammed Al-Shalhoub and Tareq Al-Tayeb.
Nasr and Hilal played each other in 136 matches. Hilal won 50 of them and Nasr 48. Both teams drew in 38 matches. They had a combined total goals of 367 — 188 for Hilal and 179 for Nasr. The last match that both teams played against each other was one month ago in the semifinals of the Crown Prince Cup, which Hilal won by 2-0.
