JEDDAH, 24 November 2004 — Football fans are keenly awaiting today’s clash of two titans, when Al-Ittihad Club meet Korea’s Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in the first leg of the AFC Champions League final at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium after Isha prayers.
Representatives of both teams exuded confidence at a press conference held at Crowne Plaza Hotel yesterday. They said they were aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses and would do their best to turn in an interesting fare. The second leg of the final is to be played in Korea on Dec. 1.
As Ittihad clash with the Korean team, one other Saudi football team, Ahli, face the Tunisian Benzarti team in Tunisia in the Arab League Championship.
“We expect the match to be tough with Ittihad likely to go on the offensive from the start,” Cha Kyung-bok, coach of the Korean team said.
He paid tribute to Ittihad and said the Koreans held the local players in high esteem. “Ittihad are a strong team and they have a number of star players. They will have the advantage of home crowd and ground, but we’ll do our best to achieve best results,” the coach said.
Speaking to the press with him were Tomislav Ivic, a Croatian who has been the coach of Ittihad for the last four months, and AFC Media Officer Marzouq Al-Azmi. Mahmood Hannan was the interpreter for Ivic who spoke in Croatian. Ivic has been coaching various national teams and clubs worldwide since the late 1960s.
“It’s going to be a tough match as both teams are well known clubs, both belong to different schools, both are physically fit, both have different play styles and both adopt different game plans,” the Korean coach said.
“We believe Ittihad are potentially very strong, especially in midfield, with good knowledge of the opponents’ maneuvering skills. However, we’ll play positively and achieve positive results,” he said.
The Ittihad coach said the team would play all of its recognized talents. “We’ll not take any chances but hope to play an attacking game with the blowing of the whistle,” he said.
“We’re confident that Ittihad will play positively to bring laurels to the Kingdom. We’re optimistic of a win by a big margin of goals,” Mansour Abdulrahman, an Ittihad fan said. “The team is stable and players are fine with the exception of some who have suffered injuries. In fact, we at Ittihad have been preparing for this match for a long time. If we beat the Koreans 3-0 then we can play the second leg in Korea with less pressure,” he said.
The winners of the two legs will receive $500,000. The Seongnam team held training sessions here since its arrival on Saturday.
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma are the Korean League champions, who booked their place in the final of the AFC Champions League after beating their counterparts from Uzbekistan in Tashkent in the second leg of the semifinal recently.
Al-Ittihad stand between the Koreans and their first piece of continental silverware since the Asian Super Cup they won in 1996. The Saudi team drew 2-2 with Korea’s Chonbuk Motors to advance 4-3 on aggregate.
Asian Football Federation has appointed a group of referees to supervise the upcoming match. Moradi Masoud, an Iranian, will be the match referee. Assisting him as linesmen will be Kharzafi Ali and Kharzafi Rasool.
About the match in Tunisia, an Ahli fan, Abdul Aziz bu Hjar, said the game would be very difficult.
“I’m confident about our team, but we’ve to realize that the Tunisian team is very difficult to beat, as it includes a number of Tunisia national players and stars. We, however, have a team which is fit enough to face a strong side,” he added.
Ittihad sources said that the club had purchased SR300,000 worth of first and second class tickets for the match. The stadium can accommodate 30,000 spectators.
Following are the Ittihad probables:
Hussain Al-Sadiq (keeper), Reda Takur, Hmad Al-Montehseri, Osama Al-Mouwallad, Hmad Al-Issa, Mashal Al-Saeed, Khamis Al-Zahrani, Khamis Al-Owairan, Mohammed Nour, Chico, Saud Kariri, Ibrahim Suwaid, Hamza Idrees, Mario, Saeed Al-Wudaani, Marzouk Al-Otaibi.
— Additional input from Mahmoud Ahmad
