JEDDAH, 9 November — Asian Soccer finally made it. After playing the A division SIFF-SADAFCO Soccer 2001 league-cum-knockout matches, they showed their skills with speed and immaculate ball control to win the title. Soccer fans numbering in excess of 6,000 cheered the winners when they defeated their equally strong opponents — Friends Club 4-1 at the Ministry of Education Stadium here last Friday.
Ryan Arts & Sports won the B division trophy by defeating Malabar Sports 1-0 in the final played earlier. In the interschool final — a tournament organized for the first time on the sidelines of the annual SIFF tournament, International Indian School-Jeddah (IISJ) beat Indonesian International School 3-1 played on the same day.
Asian Soccer were determined to clinch the A division title this year going by their performance in the various league and knockout matches. Aside from the champion’s trophy, three Asian Soccer players were honored for their performance on the field. Sameer was adjudged as the best player in the first division, and Sherief the best defender. Sakeer claimed the man of the final match.
In fact, Asian Soccer were the favorites, although they drew 1-1 in the tournament’s opening encounter against former champions Westar-ACC on Aug. 10. Asian Soccer subsequently had a cakewalk over Hyderabad 6-0 and trounced Asiana Yellow in the league encounters. They had an easy 2-0 victory over Blue Star A in the semifinal played on Oct. 26.
Striker Harris ably filled the void created by the absence of defender Shihab who was shown red card in the semifinals. An attacking forward, Harris just fitted into the defense line, mainly manned by dependable Sherief and captain Anwar. Sameer was impressive and together with Isaq they made the Friends defenseless. Friends were outplayed in every department of the game. They lacked team spirit, which Asian Soccer displayed with an excellent game plan. Asian Soccer, who dominated the first session, did so in the second half as well. After Harris made it 3-0 when his deceptive floater landed in the goal, Shahul Hameed scored the consolation goal for the winners. With this, Shahul Hameed emerged as the top scorer of the tournament. Harris completed the tally off a solo. Just before the final whistle Friends midfielder Hamza paid the price for being offensive in a desperate move against Sakeer and referee Muhammad Salim flashed the red card at him.
Ryan Arts & Sports were an impressive lot in the B division final. For their opponents Malabar, it all appeared to be a story of lost opportunities. It was Azeez who missed a great chance to give Malabar the first goal. Where Malabar failed, Ryan made it by scoring off a goalmouth melee created by a cross by Akbar. Mujeeb Rahman banged home from close, which happened to be the winner at last. Soon Malabar earned a penalty when Latheef was fouled in the box. Salih earned the wrath of spectators when he blasted the shot over. That depressed Salih who could not do much until he was substituted in the second half.
In between the sustained efforts of Malabar produced a goal through Azeez but it was ruled offside. Newcomer Anwar of Ryan won the player of the final match.
Matches were officiated by Muhammad Abdullah Salim, Abdul Rahman Houzawi, Yousuf Houzawi and Sakeer all through the three-month tournament matches played every Friday.
Best player awards of the tournament: A division - goalkeeper Asif Ali of Blue Star A, defender Sherief of Asian Soccer, top scorer Shahul Hameed of Friends, best all-round player Sameer of Asian Soccer, fair play: Hyderabad XI and Westar-ACC.
B division - goalkeeper Riaz Muhammad of Malabar, defender Rahmatullah of Ryan, top scorer Mujeeb of Ryan, best all-round player Azeez of Malabar and fair play: Al Rai Brothers.
Before their interschool final, the IISJ and Indonesian schoolboys were introduced to Indonesian Consul (culture) Noorul Oulia, Abdul Rahim of the IISJ managing committee, vice principal Muhammad Shafi and M.V. Saleem. Former SIFF President Vallanchira Muhammad Ali awarded the winners trophy. IISJ’s Mishal scored the first two goals in the first session. Both teams scored a goal each in the second half. Ismail of IISJ won the player of the match award.
Following were the A division teams who played in the finals:
A division: Asian Soccer - Kabeerullah (goalkeeper), Sakir, Sherief, Anwar (captain), Ishaq, Baputty, Hussein, Saleem, Sameer, Farris, Zubair, Mujeeb Rahman, Salim Ali and Harris Babu;
Friends - Hamza (goalkeeper), Sulaiman, Hameed (captain) Sakeer, Avaru, Riyaz, Ghafour, Habib, Afzal, Mustafa, Shahul Hameed, Hamza, Subair, Sayeed and Hussain.
