JEDDAH, 26 April 2005 — Al-Qadisiya won 2-1 yesterday at home against Al-Nasr of Riyadh to seize the lead in the home and away semifinal series in the Crown Prince Cup soccer tournament at the Prince Muhammad ibn Fahd Stadium in Dammam.
Qadisiya travel to Riyadh next Friday for the crucial return leg that will decide the winner of the tie.
Al-Hilal entertain Al-Ittihad today in Riyadh to start their own series. They play the second leg of their match on Saturday in Jeddah.
Goals by Yasser Al-Qahtani in the 19th minute and Brazilian international Jose Souza in the 44th set up Qadisiya’s victory.
The match was delayed by 30 minutes due to the late arrival of Nasr’s team uniforms.
The delay, however, did little to slow the Qadisiya who dominated the match all evening.
Nasr equalized in the 32nd minute when Saad Al-Harthy scored.
Qadisiya took the lead for good after that Souza goal. Both teams were unable to score in the second half although Qadisiya had more shots on goal and were the better team offensively. Ittihad reached the semifinals after winning over Najran 5-0 and Taie 5-1. Hilal made the semifinals after winning against Al-Raid 1-0 and Al-Wehda 1-0 in the first match and quarterfinals.
Al-Ahli, Ismaeili
in Crucial Tiff
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahli and Ismaeili of Egypt clash today in the decisive second leg of their home and away match in the Arab Champions League. The match will be played at the Ismaeili Stadium in Egypt.
Ahli are brimming with enthusiasm and big hope to repeat their 2-0 home victory on April 3 at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in Jeddah.
On arrival Ahli received a warm welcome from the Ismaeli team at the Cairo airport last Saturday. Many Saudi fans that are living in Cairo milled around them as well.
Ahli were not performing well during their previous games either due to injury or suspension of players. However, the team captain Hussein Abdul Ghani, will be back for the game today after serving out a three-match suspension in the competition. Also, the opportunity of having Flavio playing in today’s game instead of Bechara will strengthen the team’s spirit.
Ahli are looking to recover from the defeat by Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan at the Asian Champions League. Victory by Ahli would make them the third Saudi club after Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal to qualify for the semifinals.
