JEDDAH, 4 February 2003 — Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia had the measure of Al-Afriqi of Tunisia once again to emerge triumphant in the Arab League soccer competition for the Prince Faisal Cup here yesterday.
Ahli, with a 1-0 verdict against Afriqi at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium, etched their superiority over the Tunisian side. They had beaten Afriqi 2-0 and 3-0 in the earlier rounds of the event, but found the Tunisian side a tougher team to beat in the final.
After a scoreless first half, which saw neither teams establishing a midfield dominance, it was left for some occasional individual brilliance to trigger a goal move. And in response came the counterattack. This was the pattern of play in the first half, and the teams, despite switching ends continued in this vein in the second.
But it needed a 67th minute Ahli strike to produce the urgency in Afriqi attack. But stout Ahli defending and lack of cohesion in the waves of Afriqi attacks in the end saw Ahli run out deserved winners.
The capacity crowd was brought to its feet by Talal Al-Mishal a minute before the Ahli goal, which in effect turned out to be a match-winner. Talal powered through the center, effectively splicing the Afriqi defense and relayed a short crisp pass to Mohammed Barakat just inside the box. But by then he had drawn two defenders out of position to release Barakat, who in a swift dash hit on the run to the Afriqi goalkeeper’s left for a superb goal to make Ahli the champions.
Al-Arabi, Qatar in 1-1 draw
Fawaz Barashi adds: Al-Arabi of Kuwait and Qatar of Qatar drew 1-1 in the Gulf Cooperation Council Championship match in Doha yesterday.
Al-Arabi, who had earlier drawn 0-0 with Al-Oroobah of Oman on Saturday, are still second on the table behind Saudi club Al-Hilal, who were held 1-1 by Bahrain club Al-Muharraq on Sunday.
Al-Muharraq remain third with four points. Al-Oroobah and Qatar share the bottom spot, while Al-Hilal are on top with seven points.
Al-Hilal had to rally to share honors with Al-Muharraq, after Hussain Ali had given Al-Muharraq the edge with a 27th minute goal.
Hussain Al-Ali, who proved the pick of the Hilal players, equalized for Al-Hilal, finishing clinically a nice pass from Sami Al-Jaber in the 72nd minute.
