Prince Khaled told Arab News in an exclusive interview that the King’s Cup achievement was the fruit of hard work and fine efforts by the Ahli players and that the 11th cup came after a very long time since Ahli last won the silverware in 1983. He said the team was honored to receive the trophy from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.
Prince Fahd admitted the strongest motivation for Ahli in its quest for the cup was the support of its fans.
In the interview he said, “In my opinion, Ahli fans are the best in the Kingdom. They gave Ahli moral support even when the team was down. Ahli fans played an important role in the great achievement by the club in different other sports. Ahli players had promised to secure the cup from the start. Thank God Ahli players delivered on their promise and because of that we are going to play in the AFC Champions League.”
Prince Fahd said that his daughter Haifa suffered a broken arm and he was needed to stay next to her. But because of the final match against Ittihad, he was forced to remain in the club to supervise the final preparation for the final. He said that he will present the cup to his daughter to as a gift.
He added, “We all decided in the club to present this cup to Prince Khaled bin Abdullah, honorary member of Ahli Club and president of the board of trustees of Ahli Academy, in recognition of his continuous support to the team. Immediately after we received the cup, we went to his house and presented the cup as a gift. This man gave a lot to the club for 40 years. Presenting the cup in his house was the least we can do to this great man.”
He said that Abdul Raheem Jizawi showed a great example of love of his team. The player refused to rest after his participation with the Saudi Olympic team in Vietnam and shortly after he arrived from a 13 hours flight, he joined Ahli to play on the same day. Jizawi insisted to be with the team even if it meant he will just sit on the bench for moral support.
Ahli’s KIng’s Cup victory slammed the door on Al-Shabab, which had been hoping for an Al-Ittihad win in hopes of getting to the AFC Champions League. Instead, Ahli is competing in Asia’s premier club competition along with three other Saudi teams namely Al-Hilal, Ittihad and Al-Ittifaq. The top four in the Saudi league are actually qualified for the Champions League but since Ahli made it as King’s Cup champion from outside the top four having finished sixth in the domestic league fourth-ranked Shabab was eliminated.
Prince Fahd said, “Each Ahli player will receive SR200,000 as a reward for winning the cup. Ahli players will be also receiving other rewards from honorary members of the club. Now we are going to put this great achievement behind our backs and focus on the future. The Brazilian striker Victos and the Omani superstar Emad will remain with the team for the next season. We are going to prepare early because we have an international competition to participate in. Ahli also will hire a new coach.”
