Al-Feiha shock Al-Ittihad: 5 things learned from the King’s Cup semifinals

RIYADH: The semifinals of the King’s Cup threw up plenty of action. On Sunday, Al-Hilal came back from a goal down to defeat Al-Shabab 2-1 after extra time while Al-Feiha shocked Al-Ittihad to win 1-0. Here are five things we learned.

1. No World Cup after effects for Odion Ighalo

Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the striker took his frustrations out on Al-Shabab. Ighalo returned from international retirement in November and there was some controversy when he was not released by his club for the African Cup of Nations in January. That club was Al-Shabab and soon after, he left for Al-Hilal, who were lower down in the table. Not anymore.

The former Manchester United man was called up by the Super Eagles for their World Cup playoff against Ghana. He came off the bench in the second leg at home but could not prevent the Black Stars from winning on away goals and taking a place in Qatar.

It was a heartbreaking situation for all Nigerian fans and on Sunday Ighalo was seemingly more determined than ever to get on the scoresheet. It was a real striker’s goal, an instinctive shot from outside the area that won the game, broke Al-Shabab’s hearts and ended a bad week on a high.

2. Al-Feiha show the magic of the cup is still alive, with some Serbian help

After Al-Hilal’s win on Sunday, the country was expecting a big final with Al-Ittihad but the league leaders were caught out by a feisty Al-Feiha. The men from Al-Majma’ah took the game to the Tigers in the first half and took the lead nine minutes before the break thanks to great work from Malek Al-Abdalmoniem and a fine finish from Mohammed Abusabaan.

It was a hard-working performance from Vuk Rasovic’s men. It was almost all one-way traffic in the second