JEDDAH, 20 January 2003 —Kuwait’s Al-Qadisiya, who were beaten 4-1 by Al-Ittihad in the opener, came back to winning ways against Al-Wehda of Syria in the Arab League Soccer Tournament for Prince Faisal Cup in Jeddah yesterday.
Their 2-1 verdict gave them hope of qualifying to the next phase. Though Qadisiya have the advantage of advancing, it also hinges on the outcome of the Ittihad-Wehda group encounter.
After a scoreless first half, Qadisiya players came back from the breather more organized and this in the end prove decisive in the nip-and-tuck affair. Qadisiya went ahead in the 48th through Ahmad Al-Buloshy, who added to his account the side’s second goal in the 70th minute with yet another clean finish when he scored the second goal giving the lead to Qadisiya. Though Wehda pulled one back in the 85th minute, when Nabeel Al-Shahta proved on target, it was the case of too little too late for Wehda.
Later, Olympic of Libya became the first team to officially qualify for the second round with a 2-0 win against Mariekh of Sudan.
Olympic went to the break with a 1-0 edge after Muhammad Al-Sebaei crowned a 13th minute solo run with a rocket past the right of the goalkeeper. Al-Sebaei then latched on to a defensive error on the part of the Sudanese team to add an insurance goal in the 60th minute.
