JEDDAH, 5 July 2003 — Al-Ittihad crowned themselves with glory with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Egyptian club Al-Ismaili in the Saudi-Egyptian Super Cup at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here.
It needed a sixth minute gem from Hamza Idrees in the second session of the extra time to break the goalless deadlock. The golden goal sent the Ittihadi fans into raptures.
The goal itself was well-worked out. Bassam Al-Yami found himself alone on the left flank well into the Ismaili territory. Instead of bursting through a host of defenders, Bassam relayed the ball back to the midfield where Moroccan player Nasser collected it and swiftly sent it through to Hamza. Then followed a quick one-two between Hamza and Nasser, with the latter sending a low goalmouth center to Hamza on the right. With the defense and the goalkeeper out of position, Hamza slotted the ball home for a well-deserved victory.
The match was heralded in with fireworks and fanfare and the capacity crowd was treated to a superlative fireworks and laser show, by some superb folk dances of Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Ittihad began the match in a flurry, trying to poach an early goal with the Ismaili defense trying to settle in.
But three successive attempts just came close, first Muhammad Nur shooting out a Mazrouk Al-Oataibi’s through ball, and then Hassan Al-Yami missing two chances in ten minutes. First, in the seventh minute, Manaf Abu Shegeir sent Hassan clear with a crisp center, only to find the latter’s shot blocked by the Ismaili goalkeeper. Then in the 17th minute, Al-Yami latched on to a through ball from the center and moved in dangerously into the box. But Al-Yami delayed in effecting his strike and the Ismaili defense regrouped to thwart this threat.
With the Ismaili midfield slowly finding their feet, the match turned into a protracted midfield tussle, with the rival players effecting attacks and counterattacks.
It was only in the last five minutes of the half that Ismaili brought the match alive again with three striking attempts. On two occasions, Ittihad goalkeeper Mabrouk Zayed was at hand to stop the shots, and the other sailed delicately close over the crossbar.
The second session saw Ittihad coming close again in the fifth minute, but Hassan’s header went out. In a swift counter Ittihad too felt the heat when Abu Jarisha’s effort was wasted by a wayward header by a Ismaili striker. In the 12th minute it was Ismaili’s turn to heave a sigh of relief when Al-Otaibi shot straight to the goalkeeper after Hassan Al-Yami had put him clear with a fine through pass. And three minutes later Abu Jarisha’s free-kick curled out of harm’s way.
Though Ismaili held a slight edge in the latter part of the game, the Ittihad defense held firm taking the match to extra sessions after a goalless regulation period.
Ittihad had the chance to wrap it up in the last minute of the first extra period when Abu Shegeir slipped past his shadow only to shoot straight into the onrushing goalkeeper for yet another missed opportunity.
But Ittihad came back a different lot in the second session of the extra time and after a period of sustained pressure sealed victory with the golden goal.
