RIYADH, 24 April — Saudi Arabia’s star striker Sami Al Jaber said yesterday he would be retiring from international competition after the 2002 World Cup finals in Korea and Japan.
Saudi Arabia to play in Group E in the first round of world football’s showcase event against Germany, Republic of Ireland and Cameroon.
“I have taken the decision to retire after the 2002 World Cup finals”, said Sami Al Jaber, who added he hoped the country’s football federation president, the Prince Sultan ibn Fahd, would accept his decision. The 30-year-old player has already appeared in two World Cup finals — in 1994 in the USA when Saudi Arabia got into the second round, and their hapless 1998 campaign in France.
Al Jaber was the first player from his country to play for an English club when he signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2000 but he returned to his native country four months later.
Ittihad, Ahli to meet in Crown Prince Cup final
In Jeddah, favorites Al Ittihad will use all their guns and tactics against Al Ahli in the final of the Crown Prince Cup today at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium.
Ahli, who won the Cup three times in the past eight years, will field a very powerful team including Egyptian Rida Seeka.
Al-Ittihad, who have the history of winning the Cup six times, strengthened themselves by including three indefatigable Brazilians to their squad.
This is the second time in twenty days that the two mighty teams are meeting each other. In the last match, Al-Ittihad defeated Al-Ahli by a 3-1 margin in a King Fahd Cup match.
Ittihad’s coach Brazilian Oscar is hopeful of his team’s victory as the match will be controlled by the terrifying trio of Hassan Al-Yami, Hamza Idris and Lanomara.
He added: “My team would adopt attacking tactics from the start of the play. I hope this tactics will bear fruit for Ittihad.” Ittihad have great hope on their scoring machine Sergio who scored three goals in the last match between the two teams. He is also considered the most dangerous foreign player in Saudi Arabia while his fans compare him to Brazilian Romario. Some critics are of the view that the team’s later performances did not reach the same superior level they displayed in several earlier matches.
On the other hand, Ahli under a new coach are much more confident to regain lost pride by winning the Cup as the team includes several national players who will also play in the 2002 World Cup.
Ahli’s Belgian coach Loka had resigned and his place has been taken by Saudi Yusuf Anbar, a veteran in coaching.
The team have won earlier in the season the international Friendship Cup at Abha, the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Cup and the Gulf Cup.
On the other hand, Ittihad aim at adding one more to their continuous series of victories over Al-Ahli as they won the Crown Prince Cup last year.
Al-Ahli captain Hussein Abdul Ghani has downplayed the last defeat as a mockery of refereeing and not the fault of his team. The team members will not repeat their past mistakes, he assured.
In the last match, Al-Ahli’s key players such as Rida Seeka were absent. Seeka, who had undergone treatment in Egypt is now back in the team. The team also include Senegalese Muhammad Sheikh, Talal Al-Mishaal and Saad Al-Dousari who has fully recovered from illness.
Ittihad are currently fighting for the Cup the ninth time while they won the title six times. Al-Ahli reached the finals six times to win the cup three times.
