JEDDAH, 29 May 2003 — A late barrage of goals, all in the second half, left Al-Ittihad holding the King Fahd Cup with the odd goal in five verdict against another Jeddah team Al-Ahli in the premier soccer event yesterday.
After a goalless first half, in which the rival teams tried to stamp their impact with a protracted midfield battle, the teams played a lively second session that was not for the faint-hearted.
First Ittihad went up, then Ahli struck a brace of goals in quick succession to take the lead, only to find Ittihad unerringly on target in the latter part of the game to run out 3-2 victors.
Riyadh Governor Prince Salman presented the cup and medals to the winners and medals to the runners-up at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh.
Ittihad began brightly and with some organized effort ratcheted up the pressure on Ahli by stringing incisive moves. But Ahli, relying on counters, slowly found their feet and pushed the battle into a midfield tussle midway through the half to end the session with honors even.
In the 12th minute Ittihad nearly went ahead, when Muhammad Noor slipped through the Ahli defense to send a neat center. Hamza Idrees rose to meet the ball, but Ahli keeper Tayseer Al-Nitef was a bit quicker on the jump as he managed to deflect the danger.
Three minutes later Ahli came close to scoring. Fahd Al-Zahrani was the player to break past the Ittihad defense before essaying a rising shot goalward. But keeper Mabrouk Zayed was at hand to touch the ball over for an abortive corner.
In the dying moments of the half, Talal Al-Meshal was pulled by Bassem Al-Yami but referee Al-Dossary allowed play to continue, and neither did he issue Bassem a card. The card would have been red, for Bassem had earlier been flashed the yellow.
Despite these threatening moves, the rival defenses stood fast during the first 45 minutes and it was only in the second session that all major action broke loose.
Hamza Idrees sparked the goal rush when three minutes into the second half his header from way out of the box was ironically let in by Tayseer. Saleh Al-Sagri had sent in a soft floater which was redirected by Idrees from outside the box with his head. The Ahli defense was well up and the ball lobbed in front of Tayseer, who was badly out of position, and the bemused goalkeeper could only watch as the ball looped past him into the goal. Ahli nearly equalized in the very next minute when Muhammad Barakat’s pile-driver from close was thumped out of harm’s way by Ittihad keeper.
Ahli’s woes continued when in the 60th minute Ibrahim Suweid was given the marching orders for punching Ittihad’s Noor in the face. This prompted Ahli coach Elia to change his lineup, going for a more attacking mode than before.
He brought in Bushayeb Limbarki in for Waleed Abdu Rabbo and this paid immediate dividends. In the 65th minute Limbarki was tackled outside the box, but the referee strangely awarded a penalty to Ahli. Bushayeb stepped up and struck cleanly to restore parity.
In the 66th minute Ahli went up for the first time in the match. Bushayeb did the early spadework before crossing from the left to an unmarked Talal Al-Meshal, who easily put the ball in the back of the net.
Ittihad were spurred into attack by this two swift strikes, but they had to wait till the 78th minute to draw level again. Manaf Abushgair’s long drive was deflected into the goal off a defender Ali Al-Abdali’s head with goalkeeper Tayseer making a vain bid to stop the ball.
This goal gave Ittihad fresh lease of life, and taking advantage of the numerical strength on the field, they managed to snatch a winner in the 86th minute. Tayseer once again showed bad judgment when he broke early to head off a corner kick by Al-Sagri only to find himself beaten by the pace and flight. Osama Al-Muwalled collected the free ball and placed the ball into the untenanted net. Ahli tried to take the match into the extra session, but despite four minutes being added to the clock due to time loss, their efforts did not bear fruit.
Ahmad Al-Hadrami, an Ittihadi fan, was just ecstatic after the victory. “I was confident that my side will beat Ahli again in the final. For they had done so twice earlier. I wish my team meets Ahli in every final, for they bring good luck to my team.”
Ahmad Al-Fal, an ardent Ahli supporter, blamed the goalkeeper for the defeat yesterday. “I am satisfied with my team’s performance this season, and we could have ended the season on top, after the two earlier trophies this year, but for the two unlikely lapses yesterday by our goalkeeper. I wish my team better luck next season.”
AC Milan Win Champions League on Penalty Shootout
Agency adds: In Manchester, England, AC Milan became European champions for the sixth time yesterday when they beat Italian rivals Juventus 3-2 on penalties after the Champions League final at Old Trafford finished goalless.
Milan goalkeeper Dida saved three of Juventus’ five penalties and Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko calmly scored the winning spot kick to clinch victory for Carlo Ancelotti’s team. Milan had the better of the match and Shevchenko had a first-half effort disallowed for offside and teammates Filippo Inzaghi and Paolo Maldini also went close with headers.
