Bilateral relations
The Arab Champions League resumed last week with a historic encounter. Mohamed El-Sayed reports
The Arab Champions League was witness to a historic match between Kuwait of Kuwait and Talaba of Iraq last week, when the two teams met in Kuwait Stadium in Group B of the reformed competition's Asian division. The result of the game, however, (which ended in a 2-2 draw) was not the main concern of the Arab audience around the world. The game, rather, acquired special importance given the symbolism of the event: It was the first time for an Iraqi team to play in Kuwait since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The last time an Iraqi team played in Kuwait was in February of the same year, when the Iraqi national team took part in the Gulf Cup.
The game was profound in its implications -- marking a significant step towards the healing of past wounds.
The same squads met last August in Cairo in the old edition of the competition, where they were also held to a 2-2 draw in the group phase. The Kuwaitis came in as the runners-up, beaten 2-1 by Zamalek of Egypt in the final.
This year's competition meant much for the Iraqi team. Having won the first-round match held last December in Damascus 2-1, the Iraqi team -- once a powerhouse of Asian football -- was keen to garner at least one point from this match to qualify for the following round of the competition.
A week before the encounter, the Kuwaiti club sacked its Brazilian head coach Gilberto Silva following a humiliating 3-1 defeat at the hands of Saudi's Ittihad Jeddah. National coach Saleh Zakariya -- who led the team before to the final of the most prestigious Arab club tournament last year -- was the appointed replacement.
Eighteen minutes into the first half, Egyptian referee Rida El-Beltagui handed the Kuwaiti side a penalty kick that was netted by Brazilian import Denis Marcos. It did not take long, however, for the visitors to score the equaliser in the 22nd minute. The hero, unsurprisingly, was Saleh Sedir, who tops the goal-scorers' table with seven goals alongside with Marcos of Kuwait.
The second half of the first period saw complete domination by the Iraqi squad, after Ahmed Sobeih of Kuwait was sent off for an early bath in the 22nd minute. Nevertheless, they could not translate the chances that came their way in the remaining minutes.
After the restart, the Iraqis continued their dominance, capitalising on the lack in the Kuwaiti ranks. Ahmed Elwan fired the visitors ahead in the 77th minute, following a slipped ball from Kuwaiti goalkeeper Khaled Al-Fadli, and netting the second goal for the Iraqis.
Pride wounded enough, the home side regrouped and managed to pull themselves back into the game in the 80th minute. Abdullah Nahar found little difficulty in driving home the equaliser when he came face to face with the Iraqi goalkeeper.
The draw helped Talaba maintain their lead in the group with eight points, securing themselves a berth in the following phase of the competition.
In the second match of the group, Ittihad Jeddah of Saudi Arabia continued their unbeaten streak in the group, crushing Faisali of Jordan 3-1 last Friday in Jeddah. Mohamed Nur, Marzouq Al-Oteibi and a Brazilian import scored for the home side in the 14th, 75th and 80th minutes. Ittihad currently stand tied with Talaba of Iraq at the top of Group B with eight points. Their rank implies qualification to the third round, though they still have two matches in hand. On the other hand, the loss dashed the Jordanians' qualifying chances as they lag at the bottom of the group with only one point.
In Group A, Hilal of Saudi Arabia massacred their countrymen Ahli Jeddah 3-0. Ivorian Candia Traore scored a hat-trick that catapulted Hilal to the top of the group with 10 points. Despite the crushing defeat, Ahli comes second with seven points.
In the other match of the group, Wahadat of Jordan was held to a 2-2 draw with Zawraa of Iraq. Zawraa lies in the third place with four points, while Wahadat, who has only one point, paid farewell to the competition though it still has two matches in hand.
There are still two rounds to be played before two teams of each group qualify for the next stage to form a group of four teams. In addition, two teams will qualify from each of the two groups of the African division to form a new group of four teams.
As yet, the venue of the June final has not been determined. The only known outcome of the competition thus far is the prize money; the winning team will take home six million Saudi riyals.
