RIYADH, 11 January— The Saudi national team defeated its Iceland counterpart 1-0 in a friendly match played at the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Stadium here yesterday. The winning goal was scored by Abdullah Al-Jamaan in the 30th minute of the second half of the match.
The Saudi team under Sami Al-Jaber adopted the Brazilian strategy while the Icelanders played in the British style. Hasan Al-Yami’s beautiful pass at the 11th minute of the first half could not be converted into a goal as the rival team’s goalkeeper caught it in difficult manner.
At the 12th minute an Iceland player was shown the yellow card for rough tackling of Sami Al-Jaber. After half an hour, the Iceland team made some clever moves and mounted pressure on the Saudi team. A strong kick from the Icelander forward just passed grazing the bar.
At the 38th minute a ball passing to the left of goalkeeper Al-Daie into the goal was disallowed because of an offside.
In the second half, the home players seemed a bit tired and the coach replaced Al-Yami and Saleh with Al-Jihan and Al-Mishaal. Again the home team regained its old vigor and Al-Jaber gave a long pass to the Al-Jihan who quickly went forward as he saw the Iceland goalkeeper coming forward. Al-Jihan’s kick above the head of the goalkeeper went straight to the net.
The guest team played in a balaced and systematic manner even after the goal against them.
The Saudi side missed a second chance for goal when they got a penalty kick at the 41st minute. Talal Al-Mishaal’s kick was caught with great dexterity by the Iceland goalkeeper.
Nasr, Ittihad win
Meanwhile in another match Al-Nasr defeated yesterday Al-Ahli 2-0 in the King Fahd Soccer Cup.
In another match of the same competition, Al-Ittihad of Jeddah defeated Al-Sholla 2-0.
