0 win over Saudi Arabia in a friendly match played at Bahrain National Stadium in Manama on Tuesday. Substitute Hussain Salman sealed the win for the home side in the 52nd minute after a goalless first half. The warm-up match was the first for the two sides ahead of their Gulf Nations Cup which is set to kick off in Oman on January 4. The two GCC nations had earlier met in Riyadh about three months ago where Saudi Arabia won 4-0. Bahrain came to the match without six of its key players including Alaa Hubail, Hussain Baba and Salman Issa, while the Saudi team was only missing the services of Mohammed Noor. The Saudi midfielder had only recently joined the squad after being absent for more than two years. Saudi Arabia had the upper hand in the first 20 minutes as the home team depended only on counter-attacks from the start. The visitors were, however, unable to create threats until striker Yasser Al-Qahtani blasted a long shot in the 20th minute that was brilliantly saved by Bahrain goalkeeper Mohammed Jafar. Bahrain responded two minutes later with Talal Yousif's short-range shot but Saudi keeper Waleed Abdullah was alert and denied the Bahraini attempt. After the break, coaches tried their best to change the tempo of the game with several substitutions. Nasser Al-Shamrani almost put the Saudis in the lead in the 48th minute, but his shot went wide. In the 52nd minute, Hussain Salman linked with Mohammed Hubail's cross to put the ball from outside the box into the Saudi net. The visitors tried to level the match in the remaining minutes but in vain. Saudi Arabia plays its second warm-up match against Syria at the Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam on Saturday before leaving for Muscat for the GCC tournament. Prince Faisal Cup Abdul Rahim Al-Jizawi helped lift Al-Ahli to 1-0 win over Al-Watani in their opening match of the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Championship at the King Khaled Sports City in Tabuk, Tuesday. Al-Jizawi sealed the win for Al-Ahli in the dying minutes and thereby putting his team on the top of Group B which includes its city rival Al-Ittihad. In the other Group A match played in Qassim, Al-Hazm also won 1-0 over Al-Raed. All the 12 teams in the Saudi Premier League are participating in the championship which is designed for players under 23 years of age. Only four players over-25 are allowed to play with their teams in the competition which was divided into four groups. __
