JEDDAH, 12 May 2008 — As expected, Ittihad qualified for the final after winning against Al-Hilal in the second leg semifinal match 2-1 last night in the King’s Cup for Champions football tournament at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium. Ittihad advanced on 6-2 aggregate score having previously won the first leg match 4-1 also in Jeddah.
Hilal had nursed slim hopes of overturning the deficit and hoped to reprise Al-Shabab’s feat of coming back from two goals down after the first leg to win the tie. But Ittihad had other ideas and an early goal by Muhammad Nur got them on the road to victory.
Shabab unmasked Al-Hazem in a 5-0 rout Saturday night to go through on 7-4 aggregate. Hazem won the first leg match 4-2 in Al-Rass.
In front of more than 20,000 cheering Ittihad and Hilal fans that had filled the stadium long before the match, Hilal came with nothing to lose option and pushed all their cards from the beginning.
Hilal got a knock right from the start when Nur struck with a header in the first minute for Ittihad, the ball going past the left-hand side of the Hilal goalie.
Ittihad meant business in the contest even if they were playing with four options to qualify.
Ittihad substitutes proved up to the task to fill the void left by key players Al-Muntasheri and Osama Al-Muwalad.
Hilal pushed forward knowing full well they need at least to win by four goals to make it. Against the determined Ittihad, Hilal couldn’t have their way and their only goal came in the 38th minute after a scramble inside Ittihad penalty box had the ball go in the direction of Fahd Al-Mufarrej who slammed home a goal.
Energized by the goal, Hilal stepped up their attack in search of another goal. Ittihad drew back and relied on fast counter attacks built around Nur and Keta who gave Hilal defenders a big headache.
Alves put the final nail in the Hilal coffin in the 90th minute when he slotted in a nice pass from outside the penalty box, the rocket-like shot hitting the back of the net.
The Ittihad-Shabab final match is set for Wednesday, and the third place game between Hilal and Al-Hazem takes place tomorrow.
