JEDDAH, 19 November 2007 — Playing most of the second half with ten players the Libyan national team beat the Saudi national team with a last-minute goal in their 2-1 victory yesterday in the 11th Pan Arab Games football tournament in Egypt yesterday.
Despite their strong start the Saudi team lost three valuable points by failing to cash in on the extra man advantage. Eleven minutes into the second half, the referee showed Libyan player Mohammed Al-Magrabi his second yellow card after he deliberately obstructed the ball with his hand.
The Saudis began strongly and did not have to wait long for in the ninth minute Mohammed Shalhoub’s curving corner kick was met by a powerful header from Saud Kerairi that slammed into the back of the net.
Celebrations didn’t last long for the Green Falcons, as the Libyan side managed pull level in the 24th minute with an Osama Al-Fazani goal. The Saudis kept their attacking pace but the strong Libyan back wall seemed to have learned from their early lesson in the match. They stood strong in front of Saudi attacks and soaked up the pressure with ease. The Libyans relied on counterattacks and some of them were incisive. The Libyans had to change their gameplan when they were a man down, and again late into the game brought in heir star player Tareq Al-Atayeb, who had not started due to niggling injuries. His introduction brought some pep into the Libyan attack and in the 90th minute his thumping effort thudded to safety from the Saudi goalpost. But it was to be Libya’s day as they struck in the last minute of the four minutes added time. Atayeb’s set piece effort saw the ball dipping into the path of the onrushing Omar Dawood, who headed the winning goal.
