JEDDAH, 19 December 2006 — The Saudi Football League ended the first round with Al-Hilal on top as expected with 30 points. Hilal capped their romp to the No. 1 spot with a 4-0 rout of Al-Shabab last week.
Hilal owed their spectacular performance to the stability of players and club management. Ace striker Yaser Al-Qahtani and star midfielder Muhammad Al-Shalhoub played important roles in most victories of Hilal. The team ended the first round with 10 wins and one loss against Wehda 2-1 in Makkah on Sept. 20.
Surprisingly for the first time in decades, Wehda club of Makkah finished in second place with 25 points after a spectacular performance that netted them eight wins, two losses and one draw. Wehda sealed the first round with a fine win 3-2 against Al-Nasr in Makkah.
Wehda led the match 3-0 before Nasr came back in the second half and managed to score two goals but failed to score the equalizer.
That Wehda have been going great guns was the result of the management new strategy of pumping new blood to the team. Wehda club rely heavily on two dangerous strikers Essa Al-Muhayyani and Alaa Kuwaikbi.
Defending champions Shabab are on third place with 22 points having lost six points in the last three matches, against Ahli 2-0 on Dec. 2 2-0 and that 4-0 drubbing by Hilal 4. Shabab surrendered the second position to Wehda right after the big defeat against Hilal. Shabab will start the next round against Al-Faisali tomorrow. Ittihad recovered from the 3-1 defeat from Shabab on Dec. 8 and secured a huge win against Al-Faisali 5-1 to be in fourth place with 20 points. Ittihad still have one first round match left against rival Ahli club. If Ittihad win they will jump to third place with 23 points.
Ittihad suffered great defeats in international competition this year. Their image took a beating with their sad exit in AFC Champions League against Al-Karama of Syria.
They also exited the Arab Champions League against ES Setif of Algeria. Ittihad are scheduled to face Taie of Hail in Hail tomorrow in first match of the second round. Ittihad will be looking to recover from the string of setbacks and put the shine back on the proud Jeddah-based club.
Ittifaq, Ahli, Taie and Nasr are in what is described the warm zone in the Saudi league standings. Ittifaq are fifth with 16 points, Ahli sixth with 15 points, Taie seventh with 12 points and Nasr eighth with 11 points. Nasr and Ahli are the biggest surprise to finish in these positions after the end of the first round because they were expected to be in the top four positions by the end of the first round. Ahli and Nasr had a bumpy start to the season. Nasr lost six matches and drew two while Ahli lost three matches and drew three.
Qadisiya, Faisali, Khaleej and Hazem are in the danger zone. Qadisiya are ninth with 10 points, Khaleej 10th with 8 points, Khaleej and Hazem and in 11th and 12th positions with seven points each. Experts expect Hazem and Khaleej to say goodbye to the Saudi league main competition by the end of the second round.
