Al-Ahly club announced the injury of its English star, Ivan Toney, the team’s striker.
The Saudi club indicated in a statement through its official account on the social media platform (X), on Sunday, that Tony is suffering from an injury to the pelvic joint, which he suffered during the team’s training, on Saturday evening.
The statement added that the English international striker will undergo medical examinations in order to accurately determine the nature of his injury, and determine the method of treatment and the duration of rehabilitation.
Al-Ahly is preparing to face Al-Fayhaa, on Monday, in the tenth round of the Saudi Professional Football League “Roshen”.
Al-Ahly team occupies sixth place in the Saudi Roshan League with 15 points from 8 matches, and it has a postponed match against Al-Nasr, the defending champion, and is 7 points away from Al-Qadisiyah, the leader of the standings, who played 9 matches.
On the other hand, Al-Fayhaa is in 14th place with 7 points.
German Jens Vissing, Al-Ittihad coach, moved to contain the effects of the two successive losses to Al-Hilal and Shabab Al-Ahly, through a series of meetings with the players and reviewing the mistakes that accompanied the two matches, in preparation for the Al-Ettifaq match, on Tuesday, within the Saudi Professional League competitions.
Al-Ittihad returned from the long international hiatus in September in a way that was different from its strong start this season, after losing to Al-Hilal 2-3 in the league, before suffering an Asian loss against Shabab Al-Ahly, making it the second defeat in a row after a loss-free start.
Postponing the Al-Shabab confrontation, which was scheduled to be held on Friday, gave the technical staff an additional opportunity to rearrange the cards, as Vissing held a meeting with the players the day after the Asian loss, with the aim of overcoming the effects of the two defeats and focusing on the next stage, in addition to video meetings that included reviewing the technical aspects and errors.
Al-Ittihad is preparing to leave its delegation to Dammam on Monday, to fight the Al-Ettifaq match, which represents an opportunity to restore the tone of victories and correct the course, after stumbling in the last two matches.
The team will regain the services of Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, who missed the last match due to an injury to the right leg muscle, while the readiness of the ten foreign players has been confirmed, with Vissing excluding players from the list before leaving for Dammam.
Between waiting for the opportunity and grabbing a place in the starting lineup, Saudi female players are facing a renewed challenge in the Saudi Women’s Premier League. Where ambition does not stop when reaching the first team; Rather, it extends to proving the ability to compete and leave a mark on the field, with a goal that tips the balance in a team’s favor, or with a pass that opens the way to victory, or with a defensive intervention that maintains the lead in decisive moments.
In its fifth edition, which brings together 8 clubs, the competition provides Saudi female players with a space to test their abilities at different competitive levels, while maintaining a place in the starting lineup remains a challenge that requires continuity, performance development, and investing in the confidence of the technical staff.
Al-Bandari Mubarak, the Al-Hilal player, provided a remarkable example when she scored 4 goals against Al-Ahly in the second round of the current season, putting her name at the forefront of the scene with a prominent offensive performance, reflecting the importance of investing in opportunities and the ability to be decisive in front of the goal.
In Al-Nasr, Basma Al-Shenaifi is stepping into a new stage in her career, after moving from the junior girls’ competitions to the first team, and she succeeded in scoring two goals against Al-Ula at the end of last season, before entering the new season as part of the team’s options. Her experience represents one of the paths that emerging talents take to reach the level of competition in the first team. The ability to prove oneself becomes an important factor in continuing progress.
The Saudi presence is not limited to these two names; The ranks of Al-Qadisiyah include Noura Al-Ibrahim and Sarah Khaled, while Maryam Al-Tamimi Al-Ala and Saba Tawfiq Al-Ittihad represent. In Al-Nasr, Sarah Al-Hamad, Shorouk Al-Hawsawi, Mubaraka Muhammad, and Layan Youssef are present, while Al-Hilal includes Fatima Mansour, Modi Abdel Mohsen, and Laila Ali, in a scene in which the roles of the players are divided between building attacks, supporting teammates, recovering the ball, and contributing to resolving confrontations.
Confirming attendance in the first team depends on the player’s continuous performance and her ability to deal with the requirements of matches and develop her technical aspects. Obtaining the opportunity to participate represents a first step, while maintaining it requires a stable level and willingness to deal with the differences in competitors, the pressure of results, and the multiplicity of options within the team.
The impact of the local competition extends to the Saudi national team, whose last camp in Doha included a number of names active in the league, so the female players moved from competing for positions within their clubs to testing their abilities within a group representing the national team. This path gives the experience gained in local competition additional importance, as female players aspire to expand their presence at the international level.
As the rounds go on, the players’ goals vary between searching for an opportunity to participate, establishing themselves in the starting lineup, and enhancing their influence on the teams’ results. But the common denominator between these paths remains the ability to transform opportunity into a continuous presence on the field, thus opening the way for more Saudi female players to compete and leave their impact on the women’s football journey.
