JEDDAH, 4 January 2007 — Riyadh-based team Al-Nasr refused to be written off, crushing Kuwait of Kuwait 3-0 in the first leg and final quarterfinal match in Group B in the Arab Champions League at the Prince Faisal ibn Fahd Stadium in Riyadh last night.
Facing elimination with another defeat, Nasr instead played a whale of a match getting two goals from Saad Al-Harthi and one goal from Talal Al-Mishal to end their poor run of results and get their campaign for a semifinal spot back on track.
But it won’t be easy. Nasr, who tallied their first three points of the competition, have to win their next three second leg matches to guarantee their place in the next round on 12 points.
Al-Harthi scored in the 32nd minute from a nice low shot outside the penalty box and struck again in the 38th minute from a fine free kick that went on the right hand side of the goalie.
It was Al-Harthi’s night. In the 64th minute his nice header from a corner kick that was blocked by the Kuwaiti goalie rebounded back to Talal Al-Mishal who drilled the ball in the left hand side of the goalie.
Kuwaiti team remain last with only one point. Al-Faisali of Jordan lead the group with 6 points and ES Setif second with 4 points.
Meantime, upsets rocked the Saudi Football League when heavyweights Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad lost to bottom teams Al-Hazem 2-0 in Al-Rass and Al-Qadisiya 1-0 in Dammam.
Wehda of Makkah avoided a potential upset of the top three teams with a 2-0 win over Khaleej, and the match in Riyadh between Al-Shabab and Taie ended in a 1-1 draw.
In a battle between teams on the opposite ends of the standings, Hilal fans can’t believe their eyes after lowly Al-Hazem deprived Hilal of a very important three points that would have helped Hilal increase the gap over second-ranked Ittihad. The goals were scored in the 72nd minute by Hasan All-Dossary and by Fahd All-Subaie in the 77th minute.
Hilal fans at the end of the match threw bottles at the players to express their dissatisfaction at the team’s performance. Hilal though remained on top with 32 points despite losing two matches in a row. Al-Hazem advanced to 11th position with 10 points.
The second upset of this round came from Qadisiya who took the measure of Ittihad with the only goal of the match in the 84th minute.
Ittihad dropped to third place on 26 points equal with Shabab who stood at fourth because of goal difference, and Qadisiya advanced to the eighth position with 14 points.
Ahmad Al-Mousa scored the first goal for Wehda in the 75th minute and Khaled Al-Hazmi the second in the last minute of the match. Wehda moved up to the second position taking advantage of Ittihad’s defeat on 29 points. Khaleej are last with only 9 points.
Figo to Stay On
at Inter Milan
Meantime, Luis Figo will not be joining Ittihad and will stay on at Inter Milan, said coach Roberto Mancini at a press conference Tuesday night at the National Stadium’s conference hall in Riffa, according to a Gulf Daily News report.
The Italian Serie A leaders arrived Tuesday night for a training camp as well as to play a friendly match against Bahrain national soccer team on Saturday starting at 6 p. m. at the National Stadium to celebrate Bahrain Football Association’s 50th anniversary.
“I have no intention of giving Figo away to any club. We still need his services and as we speak, he is certainly staying with us until his contract expires at the end of this year,” said Mancini.
“We are very grateful for the Bahrain Football Association for hosting us and hope to see an enjoyable match between both teams,” said the 42-year-old coach who was born in Jesi, Ancona.
