Saudi Arabia and Kuwait qualified for the final of the FUCHS International Quartet Football Championship, after defeating Jordan (5-4) and Iraq (2-0) respectively at the Amman International Stadium Wednesday. Striker Nasser Al-Shamrani and goalkeeper, Hassan Al-Otaibi, helped Saudi Arabia win the match when the former leveled the score while the latter succeeded to block two kicks in a penalty shootout that ended 4-3 for the Greens after the regulation time ended 1-1. Striker Hasan Abdul-Fattah put Jordan in the lead in the ninth minute before Al-Shamrani leveled the score four minutes into injury time. The match was then taken into penalty shootout. The Saudi team started pressing its rival from the start and succeeded to dominate the first half but failed to break the host's well-set offside trap. Abdul-Fattah, however, succeeded to beat the Saudi offside trap, receiving a perfect pass from Oday Saify. Abdul-Fattah entered the Greens' area and shot past goalkeeper Al-Otaibi. After the break, the Saudis' coach Ruggiero Morris Lorenzo brought in Hasan Mo'ath for Moa'taz Al-Mousa. Ruggiero also fielded striker Saud Homoud in place of defender Abdullah Al-Zouri. The two players helped the team continue pressing on the Jordanian side. After relentless attacks Saudis struck in the injury time. Noor sent a cross into the danger area from the right flank. Mo'ath jumped to head toward the goal, but goalkeeper Shafe'a flew to block the ball which then hit the left post and bounced to Al-Shamrani who found no difficulty to nudge it into the goal. The match was then taken to a shootout where Al-Otaibi was the man of the match as he blocked two Jordanian kicks to take his team to the final. Saudi Arabia will now meet Kuwait in the final Saturday. Earlier in the first match, Kuwait blanked Iraq 2-0. Defender Fahd Awad put Kuwait in the lead in the 66th minute. Two minutes later, an Iraqi defender, Ali Hussein, was shown the red card. The shortage paved the way for another goal as Kuwaiti defender Hussein Fadhl sealed the win just six minutes before time. __
