JEDDAH, 24 April 2005 — Al-Ittihad showed their striking prowess from the spot as they slammed in all five penalties in the shootout with MC Alger of Algeria to make it to the semifinal of the Arab Championship League at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here.
Ittihad were down 1-0 at the start of the match as they had conceded a goal in the away match. They needed to win here emphatically to seal their advance. But as the match proceeded, despite total territorial advantage, the hosts were forced to the penalty shootout by a gritty Algerian side that soaked up the pressure.
Ittihad have to thank Hamza Idrees for the lifeline he gave them with a 90th minute strike, that put the teams level, and then showed their mettle in the penalties by hitting true their set of five, while Mabrouk Zayed stopped a stinger to the right — the second effort from the Alger side — to provide the difference.
In the penalty kicks, Sergio, Nur, Al-Waked, Hamza and Suwaied scored. For Alger Coulbaly, Faris, Babush and Ibrahim scored, with Kamal’s effort blocked by the agile Zayed, who was tested as early as the second minute by the Alger side following some poor defending. Most of the match was limited to the midfield
With Ittihad’s clear chance coming in the 20th minute when Dayan flubbed a super cross from Nur. And then Dayan forced a fine save from the Alger keeper in the 32nd minute as the teams battled for the ascendancy.
Ittihad got the clear edge with the introduction of Hamza into the attack and with the Algerian player given a red card in the second half, Ittihad got the opening they sought to stay in the fray. Alger dropped back to defend and paid the penalty.
In the 90th minute, Hamza was prompted by a crisp through ball, and he latched on to the ball made good use of the space before smashing the ball in. The aggregate now 1-1.
The teams battled out two extra sessions before the shootout was employed to break the stalemate. And in the test of nerves, Ittihad came out a wee better.
Al-Ahli, the third Saudi club in the competition, too is poised to join Ittihad and Al-Hilal and C.S. Sfaxien of Tunisia in the last four stage. They take a 2-0 edge in their away match against Ismaili on Tuesday. Ittihad and Hilal are to meet in the semifinals.
