JEDDAH, 25 November 2004 — Al-Ittihad Club disappointed home football fans by losing 3-1 to Korea’s Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in the first leg of the AFC Champions League final played at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium last night.
Well before Isha prayers, all roads seemed to lead to the stadium with Ittihad fans making a beeline to occupy vantage seats. The 30,000 seat stadium was filled to capacity.
For Ittihad, it was a game of many missed chances. The Koreans, anticipating an attacking start, were geared for it. Ittihad soon had to adopt defensive tactics to thwart the swift counters from the opponents. The Koreans played with ease and relied on accurate passing to build their moves, and this gave them victory. Ittihad, on the contrary, could not convert some of the chances they had through corners and free-kicks.
The teams were locked 1-1 at half-time and the Ittihad fans, who had jam-packed the stadium stands, were hopeful of a dramatic turnaround by their team. But the story of missed chances continued. And when the Koreans succeeded in converting their third goal a few minutes before close, Ittihad fans seemed to give up and started heading toward the exit.
Ittihad went on the attack from the first minute of the match, the idea being to score early goals and keep pressure on the Koreans, but that did not work. Now it will be almost impossible for the local team to beat the Koreans in Korea in the second leg to be played on Dec. 1. Such remarks came both from Ittihad officials and fans present at the stadium.
Ittihad’s first chance came in the 7th minute when Hamza Idrees gave a nice cross inside the penalty box to Muhammad Nur who hit wide with the Korean goalkeeper to beat. Then it was the Ittihad custodian Hussein Al-Sadeq’s turn to prove his skills when in the 27th minute Seongnam’s Denis Laktionov managed to outstrip four Ittihad defenders and gave his team the lead. Soon, two minutes later, Ittihad scored the equalizer through a header from defender Reda Tuker. Ittihad fans kept shouting and screaming to build pressure on the Koreans through some aggressive moves.
At the 35th minute, the Koreans had almost taken the lead when Denis received a clean pass in front of the Ittihad goalkeeper, but the ball was shot wide. Hamza Idrees responded in the 37th minute with a nice shot outside the penalty box that went a few centimeters off the Korean goal.
Ittihad’s display in the second half baffled many. The lone move that drew cheers was in the 55th minute when Muhammad Nur received a pass inside the penalty area but failed to net the ball. The Korean team soon changed their game plan and played in a more organized manner. Their passing and control of the ball was outstanding. They were in full control of the midfield.
The Korean club’s second goal came in the 81st minute when Kim Do-hoon hit home from point blank range. Three minutes later, Ittihad wasted a good chance to score the equalizer when Hamza shot hit the left post. Seongnam’s third goal came through Jang Hak-young in the 90th minute.
Ittihad’s Croatian coach Tomislav Ivic gestured his disappointment each time his players made mistakes on the field.
“We were overconfident and paid the price,” said Hassan Mukhtar, an Ittihad fan. “Until the match started, we Ittihad fans were only calculating how many goals our team would score. If this is the way we are going to play in Korea then we can imagine the result,” he said.
“Seongnam’s game shows Korean football possesses the pride and popularity equal to Brazil,” said another Ittihad fan, Murad Alsaggaf.
Ahli, Binzarti in
Goalless Draw
Ahli draw 0-0 with Al-Binzarti in Binzart, Tunisia in the Arab League Championship encounter yesterday.
The match was played at a slow pace and was limited to the midfield. Binzarti first serious attack came in the 25th minute, when a cross across the Ahli goalmouth was hastily scrambled out. The period ended goalless with few attacks being organized by either side with Ahli showing a bit more panache than the home team.
In the second half, a mistake by Ahli goalie Mansour Al-Najie almost gave Binzarti the lead. Najie effected a weal clearance and the ball went straight to a Binzarti player who shot the ball goalward. Muhammad Al-Khelawi, who had a good match, raced to clear the ball away from the goalline in the 50th minute.
Ahli responded five minutes later when Safwan Al-Muwalad gave a nice cross inside the penalty box to an unmarked Rogerio, who headed the ball clinically. But the Binzarti goalie brought off a fine save.
Ahli was in control of most of the second half and well organized in defense and midfield. The last five minutes of the second half, the referee had to show the yellow card more than once when players played rough. All teams in the group have one point.
Saudi Arabia Name Argentine
Calderon as Coach
Saudi Arabia named former Argentina international Gabriel Calderon as national coach yesterday, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.
Calderon, who has worked in Europe and Argentina, signed a contract with the Saudi Football Federation in Jeddah, the agency said without giving details of the agreement.
Calderon replaces Dutchman Gerard van der Lem who was sacked after Saudi Arabia were eliminated in the Asian Cup first round this year despite having reached the previous five finals.
Van der Lem was the 13th manager to be sacked in the last 10 years by the Saudis, who are ranked fourth in Asia.
