Saprissa stun Ittihad Jeddah to finish third in Japan
الجمعة، 30 ديسمبر 2005 - 22:34
كتب : Filgoal Writer
Alvaro Saborio gave the CONCACAF champions the lead in the 13th minute but Mohammed Kallon equalized for Ittihad 15 minutes later.
Ittihad grabbed the lead from a Joseph-Desire Job penalty-kick eight minutes after re-start.
Saborio put Saprissa at level once again from a spot-kick in the 85th minute before substitute Ronald Gomez blasted home the winner from a free kick with one minute left to play.
Ittihad finished the match with 10-men after Asian Footballer of the Year Hamad Al-Montasheri was sent-off in the 88th minute.
The result meant that Saprissa finished in 3rd place in the CWC while the Saudi giants finished in fourth.
Despite Saprissa’s early goal Ittihad players managed to pull the equalizer through Kallon who pounced on his own rebound after being set-up by skipper Mohamed Nour.
Cameroon international Job put the Saudis ahead a twice-taken penalty in the 53rd minute.
Ittihad received a strong blow defender Osama Al-Muwalad brought down Gomez in the area for a penalty that Saborio successfully converted in the 85th minute, sending the Saudis into frenzy.
The misery was compounded for the Jeddah-based side when Al-Montasheri received his marching orders for bringing down Saborio just outside the area.
Gomez stepped up to take the resulting free-kick and hammered the final nail in Ittihad’s coffin when he smashed an unrivaled shot into the top-left corner of the Saudi net.