Ittihad advanced to the final of the King's Cup for Champions after sharing the spoils with a 1-1 draw against visitors Al-Hilal at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here Sunday. Having won its first-leg match in Riyadh 3-0 Ittihad moved ahead with a 4-1 aggregate. Striker Eisa Al-Mohayani put Hilal in the lead in the first half before substitute Naif Hazzazi leveled the score for Ittihad late into the second half. Knowing the importance of goals, Hilal started attacking from the word go. Their attempts bore fruit in the 15th minute when the advancing Mohayani brilliantly controlled a high pass from defender Majed Al-Marshadi and kicked it into the goal of Ittihad keeper Mabrouk Za'id. With a 3-0 advantage in its bag, Ittihad preferred to kill as much time as possible. However, they realized that another goal would complicate things further for Hilal. Two minutes before the break, Hasan Otaibi bravely denied an attempt by Noor from close range. Ittihad coach replaced Abdul-Malik Ziaya, who was under constant pressure from Hilal defenders, with Hazzazi. The striker, however, failed to score when he came face to face with Otaibi. The ambitious Hazzazi kept trying until it was 10 minutes to time. The substitute striker jumped high to head a foul kick from the left by Portuguese midfielder Paulo Jorge into the Blues' goal. The goal shattered Hilal players' hopes. Hilal missed the service of its Swedish midfielder, Christian Wilhelmsson, who received a red card in the first-leg encounter. Sami Al-Jaber coached Hilal after Argentinean Gabriel Calderon displeased Hilal supporters in the team's recent encounters. Gomes dismissed The Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) Sunday dismissed the recently-appointed Brazilian coach of the Saudi national team, Ricardo Gomes. The SAFF statement said it has taken the step following Gomes' insistence to arrive long after the date agreed upon in the contract. According to the statement, Gomes was supposed to arrive in Saudi Arabia on June 21. He, however, sent a letter to the federation, a few days later asking for a delay in his arrival sighting personal reasons. “He suggested he would send his team of assistants to oversee the Saudi team until he arrives. His request was, of course, disapproved as that would have negatively affected the program of the national team,” the statement said. The SAFF officials thus decided to drop the coach. The statement said the SAFF will temporarily task Gome's compatriot Ruggiero Morris Lorenzo, who is currently coaching the Saudi youth team, to manage the Saudi national team until it finds a suitable manager.
