JEDDAH, 28 April 2007 — Al-Ahli showed their penchant for the big occasion yesterday. At the same venue, playing the same opponent and on a similar occasion - the final - Ahli showed that they had the better temperament than their archrival Al-Ittihad.
Contesting the Crown Prince Cup final at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal stadium, Ahli picked up their second silverware for the season by quelling Ittihad 2-1 in a thrilling finale.
Playing to a packed stadium awash with color — the Ahli green and the yellow and black of Ittihad streaming all over the stadium — the teams played rip-roaring soccer with their fans cheering them on with every touch of the ball. The melding of the crescendo of delight and the sudden sigh and angst of danger in the field lent its own color to the clash.
The ebb and flow of the fans’ feelings matched the criss-crossing of the action on the field with both the teams laying a heavy accent on attack.
It was Ittihad, who had lost the Prince Faisal Cup final in February to Ahli, who were quick on the attack making their intentions clear - that they would not allow this one to slip away. Though they had the majority of the midfield possession, their varying tactics of using the central thrusts or the flanking runs, foundered against a solid Ahli backline.
Ahli too were smothered in their efforts down the center with defender Hamad Al-Muntashari and Osama Al-Muwallad anticipating their every move, and they were left relying on the wings to mount their threats.
With the rival defense standing tall in the first half, chances were few and far between. But a sudden switch of formation by Ittihad after the break saw Ahli slip in to strike two. And that proved enough for the day.
Ittihad coach Dimitri Davidovic had said prior to the match that Ittihad’s strength lay in playing the 4-5-1 formation, with Hassan Keta playing the role of a roving attacker while overlapping with the midfield.
But inexplicably he switched to the 4-4-2 formation favored by Ittihad President Mansour Al-Balawi in the second half, and that allowed Ahli more space. Ahli picked up the tempo of the match after the interval and used the space vacated by the midfielder to go up on attack cleverly.
With the Ittihad midfield stretched, Ahli strung up a series of attacks that led to the twin strikes in the space of 11 minutes. The first one came in the 76th minute through Tayseer Jassim and in the 87th through Malik Muaz, who till then was tightly shadowed and had been rendered ineffective.
The strikes coming so late in the day effectively shut out Ittihad, who however made a spirited rally to come back into the game. They pulled one back through Keta in the 88th minute and looked to have a half chance of taking the match into the extra time when they stared at the Ahli goal from he top of the box with a free kick in their favor just seconds before the final whistle.
But the set piece, taken by Brazilian Wagner, foundered at the onrushing Ahli wall and with it went Ittihad’s hopes of avenging the earlier final defeat.
Ironically Ittihad defender Muwallad came close to shooting his side ahead in he 25th minute. Moving up in support of his midfield, he latched on to a poorly cleared ball from Ahli defenders and sent in a pile-driver of a shot. But the ball sailed over the bar to the relief of Ahli players and supporters.
The second chance that thudded Ittihad’s hearts was five minutes later when Muhammad Nur worked his way up on the right wing before blasting an angular shot. The zipping ball crashed into the near upright and bounced back into play, and the Ahli defense was quicker as they cleared the ball out of harm’s way.
Ahli too wove some intricate designs as they worked up their attacks, but they rarely tested the Ittihad goalkeeper Mabrouk Zaid in the half. But the two efforts they got in the second they cashed in. Jassim outpaced two Ittihad defenders to enter the box with a feint to the left. His on-the-run shot went through the legs of Zaid, who was trying to cover the angle after being deceived by Jassim’s feint. Ittihad increased their efforts to restore parity with an all-out attack. But Ahli played the wait and watch game and slipped in their second from a swift counter. A long clearance from the Ahli defense was collected by Brazilian import Kaio, who then centered the ball from the right. The ball was perfectly met by Muaz, who headed the ball home neatly.
A minute later, Ittihad substitute Hamza Idrees sent a perfect pass inside the box to Keta, who redirected the ball into the goal. But the effort was too little too late as Ahli held off the furious Ittihad efforts for the remaining four minutes to emerge victorious.
