JEDDAH, 13 September 2005 — Al-Ittihad start the defense of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League title against China’s Shandong in the quarterfinals where Al-Ahli will also be in action against another Chinese team.
As the defending champions, Ittihad have been seeded in the two-legged quarterfinals.
To be played simultaneously tomorrow, Ittihad are away to Shandong in Jinan, China while Ahli host Shenzhen club at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here.
Ittihad head coach Urdanisco assured Ittihad fans that the team are ready for the big match tomorrow. Ittihad wind up their final preparation today.
About the only thing that threw Ittihad off was when they were made to cough up $1,000 by the Chinese stadium officials as a fee to train on the field. This was contrary to what was agreed before the team’s arrival in China, according to Ittihad team manager, Hamad Al-Sanee.
“This is strange ,” he said adding he will lodge a complaint with the technical committee.
In Jeddah, Ahli continued training in preparation for the first leg home match. Ahli coach Elia is expected to play attacking soccer to try and score as many goals as possible.
The Brazilian striker Rogerio is likely to partner up front with Talal Al-Meshal, who is suffering from an injury that is less serious to not prevent him from playing.
Ahli have a high morale coming into the match after having qualified for the final of Prince Faisal ibn Fahd cup.
Ahli reached the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League by virtue of their first place finish on 15 points in Group D in the eliminations.
