Ahli of Saudi Arabia and Al-Salmiah of Kuwait qualified for the semifinals of the 24th GCC Club Football Championship on Friday. Al-Ahli trounced Dhafar of Oman 4-1 while the Kuwaiti team prevailed over Al-Najmah of Bahrain 3-2 here at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium. Supported by their fans, Al-Ahli players controlled the match from the very beginning, until Ibrahim Hazzazi brought down an Omani striker in the box in the 19th minute. Hasan Al-Hadhari of Dhafar scored from the spot. At the 42nd minute of the first half, Ala'a Raishani of Al-Ahli shot powerfully from inside the box. The ball hit the bar and bounced back but the linesman signaled for goal. In the 65th minute, Abdul Raheem Al-Jizawi put Al-Ahli in the lead and captain Sahib Al-Abdullah scored the third goal from the spot in the 68th minute, after Al-Abdullah himself was brought down in the box. Mohammed Mos'ad sealed Al-Ahli's win in the 90th minute. With this victory, Al-Ahli topped Group B with seven points. Al-Ahli had won two matches against Al-Salmiah of Kuwait 1-0 and drew goalless against Al-Najmah of Bahrain. In the same group, Al-Salmiah of Kuwait won over Al-Najmah of Bahrain 3-2. Hamad Al-Harbi put Salmiah in the lead in the 30th minute but after one minute Najmah midfielder Hamad Faisal equalized. In the 35th minute, Salmiah striker Hamad Al-Harbi was back to make a difference. Three minutes later, midfielder Saleh Al-Braiki added salt to Najmah wounds and Najmah defender Nasser Al-Hajri scored an own goal. With this win, the Kuwaiti team qualified with six points. Salmiah had lost its first encounter against Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia 0-1 last Saturday before it won over Dhafar of Oman 3-2 on Tuesday. In Doha, Al-Qadsiah of Kuwait and Al-Muharraq of Bahrain shared points after a 1-1 draw in Group A. The Brazilian striker Reco put Muharraq in the lead in the 14th minute and Badr Al-Mutaw'e equalized for Qadisiah in the 22nd minute. Qadsiah is on top of Group A with seven points while Muharraq stays second with five points. Al-Nasr of Saudi Arabia meets Al-Nahdhah of Oman in a third round match in Group A in Doha Saturday. __
