The last four teams in the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Cup showed their class by qualifying for the semifinal stage of the competition which kicks off Saturday. Al-Ahli, Al-Nasr, Al-Shabab and Al-Hilal secured their passage after they finished the four-month race on top of the two groups. Ahli, the only team from outside Riyadh in the stage, topped Group A with 22 points, four points ahead of the second placed Al-Nasr. Qualifiers from Group A, which included Al-Wehdah, Al-Ittihad, Al-Watani and Al-Teai, paved their way to the semifinals just one round from the end of the first stage. Meanwhile, Al-Shabab which came first in Group A with 24 points was the only team which sealed the qualification two rounds earlier. Al-Hilal on 22 points finished second to set a head to head clash with Group A leader Al-Ahli in Jeddah. The four teams will be without their international players who joined the Saudi national team training camp in Dammam on Thursday. Rules of the competition which is basically designed for players under 23 allow five players from squad A. Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal encounter will be the strongest as Al-Ahli aims to defend the title while Al-Hilal seeks to add another chapter to its glorious history after the team won 2008 Crown Prince Cup. Al-Ahli, which had a poor show in the last two weeks of the AFC Champions League, also needs to live up to the occasion to redeem its prestige. The Serbian coach Nebosja Vudkovic will depend on the Brazilian trio of Osovaldo Suza, Leonardo Silva and Antonio Caio in his mission to get the better of the strong Riyadh club. Al-Hilal, however, has called up five of its players from the first team to assist Romanian Cosmin Olariau. Brazilian defender Marcelo Tavars will lead the defense along side ace Abdul Aziz Al-Khthran. Libyan Tariq Al-Taib may not be available for the clash especially after midfielder Ahmed Al-Firaidi returned to the team after a one-week training in Saudi national team camp. In Riyadh, the two sides Al-Shabab and Al-Nasr closed their training sessions ahead of the crucial match at the King Fahd International Stadium. Al-Nasr looks better in terms of experience as most of the players who participated in the Saudi League were from the Olympic team. Al-Nasr's Argentinean coach Daniel Asad watched video tapes of some of the Al-Shabab matches in the competition to decide his formation for the clash. Asad assigned some of his key players with special tasks especially for Moroccan defender Essam Al-Merdasi who has to deal with the fast strikers of Al-Shabab. Al-Shabab coach Enzo Hector will miss some of the main players after they picked injuries in the last rounds of the competition. Brazilian Marcelo Camatcho will be the dynamo of Al-Shabab with support from Argentinean Manuel Martinez. __
