The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup championship enters a crucial turning point Saturday when Al-Shabab of Riyadh hosts Al-Hazm of Al-Rass at King Fahd International Stadium. Shabab coach Hector, who will be seen among spectators as a result of receiving a red card in Al-Rass encounter, needs at least a favorable three-goal difference result to overcome a 4-2 first leg loss. Hazm will miss the services of some seven players due to injuries and suspensions especially Majed Al-Marhoum and key man and playmaker Ahmed Minawer. Atram is perhaps the most influential player among these missing playrs. With a two-goal advantage Hazm's Tunisian coach, Ammar Al-Suaiyeh, is expected to focus on the defense and threaten Al-Shabab with counterattacks. However, the “White Lion” Shabab will be fired up at home. Strikers Nasser Al-Shamrani and Faisal Al-Sultan will definitely threaten Hazm defenders. Goalkeepers of both teams, Mansour Al-Naj'ae of Hazm and Waleed Abdullah of Shabab, will be kept busy. For the second time, on Sunday Al-Ittihad hosts Al-Hilal at Jeddah's Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium in the second leg match. The match which was supposed to be played in Riyadh, was moved to Jeddah due to the GPYW's disciplinary decision against Hilal whose supporters threw bottles at Al-Wehdah fans. Al-Hilal, champion of the Saudi Premier League, needs a victory with 4-goal difference to make the final. The task seems hard but not impossible for Hilal. The team plays the match in the absence of its key player, Tariq Al-Ta'ib, who is serving a four-match suspension. Ittihad, which lost to Kuruvchi of Uzbekistan in the AFC champions league, wants to make its supporters happy by qualifying to the final of this competition. Although Ittihad coach Calderon will miss two distinguished defenders Osamah Al-Muallad and Hamad (disciplinary suspension by the GPYW) and Al-Montashiri (yellow cards), the Argentinian coach has prepared Ridha Takar and Mohammed Salem to take their places. Some supporters of both teams believe that in case Al-Hassane Keita, who has recently renewed his contract with Al-Ittihad, is in his good shape, Hilal might lose the match, especially with the absence of Majed Al-Marshadi, who was sent off in the first leg match. Kozmin, coach of Hilal, will perhaps play either Fahd Al-Mofarej or Abdul Aziz Al-Hilayel in Marshadi's place. Hilal's international player Mohammed Al-Shalhoub is expected to take part from the start to make up the absence of Libyan Tariq Al-Ta'ib. Strikers of the blue team, Yasser Al-Qahtani along with Ahmed Al-Firaidy have to double their efforts to help their team qualify for the final. The first leg match ended 4-1 for Al-Ittihad. __
