JEDDAH, 8 January 2004 — Al-Ittifaq emerged champions in Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Cup Soccer Tournament for the second time in a row and third time in the championship history when they beat five times champions Al-Hilal in a marathon match that was decided via penalty kicks.
The teams were deadlocked 1-1 at the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Stadium yesterday and despite two extra periods failed to resolve the issue. Ittifaq showed the stronger nerves on the day to win 6-5 in the contest from the spot.
Amid dusty and windy conditions, the team playing with the wind held the advantage. Hilal was first to score in the 30th minute when Muhammad Al-Nazhan used the wind to good advantage as his shot from the set piece curled into the Ittifaqi goal leaving the defenders and the goalkeeper bemused. Hilal dominated the entire first half with Turki Al-Suwaileh and Ahmad Al-Harbi aggressive in attack. For all their territorial edge, Hilal failed to increase their lead.
In the second half, Ittifaq, now playing with the wind, too secured an early goal in the 47th minute through Hussein Abdullah. He converted a fine cross from the left into a superb equalizer. With the Hilal defenders rooted, Abdullah dashed in to smash in the goal.
Though Ittifaq called the shots in the half they too failed to break the Hilal defense after their lone strike. With the golden goal rule in force for the extra sessions, both the teams went on the offensive in the first period and it was Hilal who were the more determined. With the Ittifaq defense standing tall, Hilal slowly eased up and the second extra time saw a protracted struggle in the midfield.
The first red card was given to Ahmad Al-Jarri. The second red card was given to Al-Najiee of Ittifaq and the third red card was given to the Hilal coach who was sent out for throwing a ball at one of the Ittifaq player.
The game went to penalty kicks and for Ittifaq, Ahmad Al-Bahri, Saleh Basher, Rashid Rehab, Fahd Al-Masoud and Jamaan Al-Jamaan scored for Ittifaq, Ali Al-Shehri missed. For Hilal, Abdullah Sulaiman, Sultan Al-Bargan, Ahed Al-Harbi, Ahmad Al-Suwaileh scored for Hilal, while Muhammad Al-Nazhan and Frank Atso missed.
Bahrain Stays in Touch With Saudi Arabia
Bahrain stayed in touch with leaders Saudi Arabia in the 16th Gulf Soccer Championship in Kuwait City yesterday with a 3-1 defeat of United Arab Emirates (UAE)under overcast conditions and intermittent rain.
The victory gave Bahrain ten points, one less than Saudi Arabia, and will be hoping to win against hosts Kuwait on Saturday in their final engagement in a bid to overhaul Saudi Arabia in the stretch. For this to happen, Saudi Arabia will have to either lose or draw with Yemen along with the Bahrain victory to lose their tight grip on the trophy. The Bahrain-Kuwait match would be rendered inconsequential if the Saudis beat the Yemenis today.
UAE took the early lead in the 6th minute when Faisal Khaleel outpaced the advanced Bahraini defenders to latch onto a crisp overhead pass before scoring. This early goal threw the Bahraini plans into confusion and for a brief period Bahrain laid a veritable siege of the UAE citadel with a series of attacks that were mounted without any plan.
The UAE goalie was tested in the 13th minute when Ahmad Salmeen’s cross was angularly driven by Alaa Hubaiel, but the effort was blocked by the goalie.
Seven minuets later, Alaa almost scored when he collected a poor throw from the UAE goalie only to shoot over in haste.
The equalizer came in the 26th minute and was one of the most spectacular goal in the championship. Hussein Maki backheeled the ball onto the path of a charging Alaa, who launched a rocket from nearly 40 yards out to the top right side of the goal. Bahrain added the second 50 seconds later when Talal Yousif showed fine opportunism. He collected a crisp through pass that spliced a disorganized UAE defense and smashed in a first-timer. The ball hit the upright and glanced off toward the UAE goalie, who misjudged the angle and he watched helplessly as it ricocheted off him into the goal.
Bahrain took the break with a 2-1 edge and continued to control the proceedings in the second session too. Bahrain notched their third in the 59th minute when Talal Yousif took advantage of a poor back pass to easily score. Today, Kuwait will face Qatar in the first match and Saudi Arabia will play Yemen.
Blatter Hits Out at Premiership
Clubs Over African Players
In London, world soccer chief Sepp Blatter has hit out at English Premiership clubs over their attempts to prevent African players turning out for their countries in the African Nations Cup finals this month.
Relegation-threatened Tottenham last week tried to persuade 12-goal Freddie Kanoute, born in France of Mali parents, from playing in Tunisia.
Kanoute, Leeds United’s Lamine Sakho and Mohamed Sissoko of Spanish club Valencia have all played for the France Under-21 side but have applied to change countries under new FIFA rules because they have dual nationality and have not played for the France A team.
