ABHA, 12 August 2004 — Favorites Al-Ittihad Club of Jeddah and Tunisia’s Safaqsi Club drew (1-1) in their opening encounter of the International Friendship Soccer Tournament for the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Cup at Prince Sultan Sports City here yesterday.
Kareem Al-Nafti of Safaqsi scored the goal for his team in the 11th minute of the game and Ittihad had to wait for a 83rd minute equalizer through Abdul Rahman Al-Zahrani to share honors and points. The exciting encounter between the two teams enthralled fans in the city.
Ittihad players were in excellent form and controlled the majority of the exchanges but its strikers failed to convert their superiority into goals, wasting many potential chances. The Tunisian team went on the defensive after the scoring the lone goal, secured on the counter offensive. Ittihad went on the rampage after going a goal down and saw many a chances going abegging. But their efforts paid fruit late in the day for a much-deserved leveler.
The second match between Al-Hilal Club of the Kingdom and Jomo Cosmos of South Africa ended in a goalless draw. Hilal dominated the proceedings, launching waves of attacks, but failed to break the rock-sold South African team’s defense.
