JEDDAH, 10 May — Al-Ittihad reveled amid adversity yesterday to sustain a super sequence of victories in the King’s Cup. Playing in their third final in three years, Ittihad yet again came up trumps in the battle of wills and skills in the premier football championship. Ittihad eventually won 1-0 in a thriller of a match to help them seal their third straight King’s Cup.
At the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium, Ittihad showed tenacity in defense, courage in the midfield and flair in the strike zone against a game Al-Nasr club from Riyadh in the King Fahd Cup final yesterday.
Though Nasr matched Ittihad ball for ball and move for move, it was the skilled touch of super sub Hamza Idrees in the latter part of the second half that tilted the match Ittihad’s way. The victory enabled Ittihad to record a grand cup double following their victory in the Crown Prince Cup last week.
Though Nasr wrote the early script, it was Ittihad who gained the midfield ascendancy as the match wore on. The tempo and flair displayed by both the teams made for a fast-paced encounter, and there was nary a dull moment in the hotly-contested final.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd presented the King’s Cup to Ittihad. A check of SR300,000 was also given to the winning team. Al Nasr picked up SR250,000 for finishing runners-up.
Thousands of Ittihadi supporters thronged the stadium from the evening to support their team. And they were not disappointed.
The match started with both teams trying for an early goal. Though Nasr made the early running, it was Ittihad who had a first shy at the goal, when a goalmouth passing bout was nearly converted.
Nasr applied repeated pressure with some swift counters, but it was their slow and steady buildups that usually posed some danger. While Ittihad’s forays in the Nasr penalty area were numerous, their rivals from Riyadh looked more dangerous whenever they neared the Ittihad goal area.
A goalless first half promised a more exciting second half. And this is what happened. Both sides going for the jugular with Hassan Al-Yami and Brazilian star Sergio aiming and missing for Ittihad.
Nasr’s striker Yezid and Mahdi ibn Sulaiman, on whom a lot depended, were held back by a stout Ittihad defense. With the clock ticking away, Ittihad coach Oscar made a wise decision by replacing Al-Yami with striker Hamza Idrees in the 70th minute. This move paid dividends as Idrees, in the 38th minute of the half, put one past Nasr goalkeeper Khojally to set the stadium alight.
Nasr made concerted attacks in the next seven minutes and well into injury time. It seemed as if Nasr would score at any moment, but on this given day it was not to be, and an exhausted Ittihad team, an anxious crowd in the stadium and hundreds of Ittihad supporters across the Kingdom and abroad heaved a sigh of relief when the final whistle blew.
