JEDDAH, 28 January 2003 — Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahli became the first team to qualify for the semifinals of the Arab League Soccer Tournament for Prince Faisal Cup when they won the showdown between the top two teams of the group, beating Al-Afriqi of Tunisia 3-0.
Earlier, Al-Fasi of Morocco and Al-Ahli of Bahrain tied 1-1 to log their first points in the group. They had both lost their first engagements. The draw also gave Al-Afriqi a better chance to join Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahli in the last four.
However, it was their match against Ahli yesterday that put them in such a predicament of relying on their last group match to advance. Ahli proved more tenacious and showed superior ground skills to keep the Tunisian outfit off-balance throughout the match, and key strikes at regular intervals knocked the fight out of the Afriqi squad.
The first quarter saw Afriqi holding the upper hand, with Ahli forced to defend for the majority of this period. But the first goal in the 27th minute changed the complexion of the game, and from then on it was Ahli who dictated and Afriqi who defended.
A flanking run down the right, from a counter-attack, saw Muhammad Shiliya effecting a superb goalmouth center. The opportunistic Waleed Abduraboo timed the meeting to perfection, rising above a clustered defense to nod past the onrushing goalkeeper to the left corner of the net.
A rejuvenated Ahli went to the break with a 2-0 edge, after increasing their tally with a 33rd minute goal. A fine cross from Muhammad Barakat from the right was intercepted by Fawzi Al-Shehri on the far left. Fawzi cut into the box and scored into an empty net, with the goalkeeper out of position.
They continued in the same vein in the second half as Afriqi had to beat back waves of Ahli attacks. But the sustained flow inevitably broke Afriqi one more time, this time in the 76th minute, when Talal Al-Meshal created a gem of a goal. Talal outwitted and outstripped two defenders with some fine footwork and speed before luring the Afriqi goalkeeper out of his den. His lobbed pass was met on the rise by Muhammad Barakat, whose header bulged the net.
Today, Al-Qadisiyah of Kuwait take on Olympic of Libya and Al-Ittihad of Jeddah play Al-Malab of Tunisia.
Hilal beat Qatar in GCC event opener
Fawaz A. Barashi adds: Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia began their campaign in the 20th GCC soccer event with a 2-0 victory over Qatar of Qatar at Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha yesterday.
Hilal, who have twice lifted the cup, were given a fine start by Mohammed Al-Shalhoub, who struck in the 34th minute. And Hussain Al-Ali scored the second ten minutes after the break.
In today’s match, Muharraq of Bahrain will face Al-Arabi of Kuwait.
