King Abdullah congratulates Al-Shabab players after presenting the King’s Cup to the team’s captain Saleh Siddique and defender Naif Al-Qadi. Al-Shabab beat Al-Ittihad 3-1 in the King’s Cup final in Riyadh on Wednesday. (AN photo)

JEDDAH, 15 May 2008 — Al-Shabab became the proud winners of the richest football tournament in the Middle East when they beat off-form Al-Ittihad 3-1 in the final last night of the King’s Cup for Champions at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh.

The victory was worth a cool SR4 million for the Riyadh-based Shabab team that played with the aplomb of champions in the decisive match. In addition to the cash prize, Al-Shabab were awarded with the prestigious cup and gold medals during the awards ceremony by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

Jeddah’s Ittihad received the runner-up prize of SR2 million, while Al-Hilal, who beat Al-Hazem in a shootout 3-1 in the third-place match on Tuesday night, collected SR1.5 million.

With the defeat Ittihad blew their last chance to save their season after coming close to winning the Saudi Premier League title only to lose to Hilal in the finale. Worse, they exited the Asian Champions League after losing to Uzbek giants Kuruvchi 2-0 in a Group A game last week in Uzbekistan.

Last night’s final watched by an overflow crowd brought an end to the season in which all four championships went to three Riyadh-based teams. Hilal scored a Crown Prince Cup and Premier League double, Al-Nasr won the Prince Faisal ibn Fahad Cup and Shabab the King’s Cup for Champions.

Shabab outplayed and outclassed the visitors who were reduced to a 10-man squad after Ittihad striker Al-Hassan Keta was red-carded in the 79th minute for colliding with Shabab goalkeeper Walid Abdurabu.

A Nassir Al-Shamrani goal in the 10th minute gave Shabab a 1-0 lead that the home team kept until the end of the first half as Ittihad tried in vain to score the equalizer.

Moving the ball pretty well and showing bodacious defense, Shabab put their rivals under further pressure when Abdullah Al-Shuhail slammed home a goal in the 82nd minute from the right side, the ball hitting the far post and ricocheting into the net.

A goal scored by Talal Mishaal in 89th minute boosted the morale of Ittihad players and fans but their hopes to find an equalizer were dashed again by a Marcelo Camacho goal for Shabab in the 92nd minute.

Shabab dominated the match right from the start, especially after winning the first goal and Ittihad missed several golden opportunities. The red card shown by German international referee Lefgang Stark to Keta disappointed the Ittihad team and their fans. But with 10 players the team scored their first and only goal five minutes before the end of the game.

Both teams pushed forward seeking to score the first goal in the early going. Shabab succeeded in that effort with Al-Shamrani converting a beautiful Camacho pass from the center into a powerful goal.