JEDDAH, 29 March 2007 — The Saudi Olympic team lost to Australia 2-0 in the Asian Olympic qualifier in Australia. This was the first loss for the Saudi team in Group D. Despite the result, Saudi Arabia are still on top of the group with six points from two wins against Jordan and Iran. The Australian team is second with five points from two draws against Jordan and Iran and a win against Saudi.
The Saudi team failed to find their rhythm, as most of the players lacked focus. Unlike the Australian team, determined to secure the full three points needed to keep them in the fray, who took advantage of playing at home and in front of their fans.
The Australians dominated the midfield and came in close on more than one occasion to scoring, while the Saudis were content on fast counters from Ahmad Al-Suwaileh and Muhammad Al-Anbar. Both the goals came in the second half through Nikolai Stanley in the 74th minute and Kristian Sarkies in the third minute of the injury time added on.
Meanwhile in the Saudi League, four teams likely to qualify for the best of four competition for the King’s Cup are more or less assured of a place as the standing shows. Al-Hilal leads the table to officially qualify for the best of four with 44 points. Second is Al-Wehda with 40 with the third and fourth places occupied by Al-Ittihad and Al-Shabab - both logging 38 point each but Ittihad is third on goal difference. The four teams have more or less assured their berths in the battle of the four teams and the remaining matches will determine their positions in the best of four.
In fifth place is Al-Ahli with 26 points. Ahli’s chances of advancing received a jolt following the 3-0 defeat against Ittihad and a 1-1 draw against Al-Nasr in Jeddah. Ahli played against Nasr with their second string as the management rested their main players for the Arab Champions League match next week.
Ahli, Al-Ittifaq, Al-Taie and Nasr are in the warm zone and will remain in the middle positions for this season. Al-Hazem, Al-Qadisiya, Al-Faisali and Khaleej bring up the bottom four positions with Faisali and Khaleej likely to take a drop to the first division. Round 19 of the Saudi League saw no surprises as Taie defeated Khaleej 2-1 in Dammam, Shabab beat Ittifaq 2-0 in Riyadh, Hilal routed Qadisiya 3-0 in Riyadh, Ittihad got past Hazem 2-1, Ahli and Nasr drew 1-1 in Jeddah and Wehda and Faisali tied 1-1 in Makkah.
