JEDDAH, 19 April 2008 — History was made yesterday at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here with Al-Ahli getting a 6-1 drubbing by Al-Shabab in the first-leg of the King’s Cup for Champions soccer event. This was one of the worst results for Ahli in the past 20 years, bringing back memories of the 8-2 thrashing they received at the hands of Al-Ittihad.
Ittihad too began their campaign yesterday with an away match in Dammam and must be happy with the 1-1 draw they achieved against hosts Al-Ittifaq at Prince Muhammad ibn Fahd Stadium.
Ahli’s dispirited start to the new competition continued their lackadaisical approach to the season in which they have shown lack of flair and commitment. Usually the result in the first leg match does not matter, but Ahli have left themselves a mountain to climb by allowing the Riyadh outfit rack up the away goals on their turf.
Unless Ahli come back with a stupendous display in the second leg, which seems unlikely after their showing in the season, it looks like the Jeddah team will round off one of their worst seasons with another low-key showing. Today Ahli members will be meeting to appoint a new club president, who hopefully would bring new spirit to the team.
Ahli started at a furious pace but they flattered only to deceive. For the first 18 minutes Ahli took charge with some clinical possession play and incisive attack and they were rewarded for their sustained pressure in the 18th minute with Muhammad Massad on target.
Then the inexplicable happened, from a dominant team they were reduced to mere passengers on the field as they folded without a fight under Shabab’s continuous attacks. Nasr Al-Shamrani helped his side draw level in the 30th minute and this was increased in the 38th minute by Faisal Al-Sultan. Al-Shamrani once again was in the act at the stroke of half-time when he struck true from the spot.
In the second half, Ahli just faded as Camacho scored for Shabab in the 55th minute with a long distant shot, which was followed by a Hasan Muaz goal in the 66th minute from a penalty kick. Ahli’s goalkeeper was red carded after conceding the penalty, adding to his side’s woes. Ali Al-Abdali, a winger, had to do the goalkeeping duties as the Ahli coach had already used up his three substitutions. And Al-Abdali too was no match for Martinez, who sealed Ahli’s fate in the 77th minute.
The referee ended the match five minutes before regulation period after five Ahli players refused to continue playing due to injuries.
Sportswriter Ahmad Al-Shamrani, speaking to ART channel, described the early end to that match as a disaster and, called the defeat “a dark mark on Ahli’s history.” He said, “This is a disaster and the players responsible should be held accountable for what happened. The players were indirectly begging the referee to stop the match so the opponent do not score more goals. How could you explain five players falling down due to injury?”
In Dammam, Ittihad were indebted to Alves for putting them ahead in the 61st minute, but Prince Tago of Ittifaq leveled the game in the 87th minute. Ittihad, who have shown some poor defending late in the match, once again paid dearly for their shoddy defense late in the day.
Ittihad again failed to convert their territorial advantage into goals and were hampered by the loss of their star player Reda Takur of Ittihad early into the match. The urgency shown by Ittihad in the first half was missing in the second and they eased up a bit after taking the lead. And Ittifaq used this window of opportunity to fire in the equalizer.
The league resumes today with Al-Nasr meeting Al-Hazem at Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Stadium, and Al-Hilal facing Al-Wehda at Riyadh’s King Fahd Stadium.
