JEDDAH, 31 January 2003 — Afriqi of Tunisia totally destroyed Al-Ahli of Bahrain 5-0 to qualify for the semifinals of the Arab League soccer tournament for the Prince Faisal Cup here last night.
At the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium, Afriqi joined local challengers Al-Ahli in the last four stage. Ahli, who had already made sure of a semifinal spot, yesterday beat Al-Fasi of Morocco 3-1 to top Group Two with nine points. Afriqi finished with six points to finish second.
In the semifinals tomorrow, Al-Ahli will play against Al-Malab of Tunisia and Al-Ittihad of Jeddah will meet Afriqi.
In the first game, Afriqi completely dominated the proceedings, got their goals through Ashraf Khalfawi (15th minute), Shukri Az-Zaali (46th), Tareq At-Taeb (79) and Ramzi Fathallah (89, 95).
In the second game, Ahli playing with great understanding, were in full control as they led 2-1 at the interval.
Ahli were 2-0 up as Waleed Al-Jizani netted both the goals with beautiful headers in the 25th and 35th minutes. Fasi got a goal back five minutes before the break.
The winners consolidated their position by scoring their third goal through Saleh Al-Muhammadi in the 80th minute.
Al-Muharraq outfight Qatar 1-2
Fawaz Barashi adds: In Doha, Al-Muharraq of Bahrain extended their streak when they defeated hosts Qatar of Qatar 2-1 in the GCC Soccer Championship yesterday. Al-Muharraq, despite squandered many chances, held their grasp of the game till the final buzzer. Most of the time Al-Muharraq played in the box area of the Qatar.
Badr Al-Shemmreri gave Al-Muahrraq an advantage from a nice header a few seconds before the half-time.
Muhannad Muhaween scored the second eleven minutes in the second half with another sharp header. With this victory, Al-Muharraq moved up to third, while Al-Arabi of Kuwait are second. Al-Oroobah of Oman and Qatar of Qatar sharing the bottom of the chart. Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia remain on top with six points.
