LONDON: Carlos Eduardo has vowed to return to action fitter than ever following a serious knee injury and has set his sights on winning the AFC Champions League with Al-Hilal.
The Brazilian playmaker is in the final stages of his recovery from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and has been training with his teammates during a camp in the UAE.
He is not yet back in full training but the club say he “is expected to be fully recovered by the first of July.”
Eduardo has not played since suffering the injury in the first leg of the AFC Champions League final with Urawa Reds in November, but he feels the end is now in sight.
“Now I’m in the last stage,” Eduardo said in a video published on the club’s Twitter account. “I’ve completed six months and now I’m in the training period to recover the ball work. I took part in some team trainings to regain the playing rhythm, returning gradually, so at the end of this period I think when we return for the pre-season I’ll be fully recovered for all the training.”
Eduardo had surgery in his native Brazil and admitted he struggled during what was the first serious injury of his career.
“It was a different period for me — I went through it for the first time,” he said. “But it was an important period for me. And I’d like to thank those who helped me in Brazil ... for this work they did for me, which helped me in the recovery.”
The 2015 signing from Porto said he drew strength from the support he received from the Al-Hilal fans.
“Al-Hilal fans’ support was an important thing for me,” he said. “Day by day I shared with them some parts from my rehab program and ... I found motivation from them. That helped me during the treatment period.”
Eduardo has missed 28 games and Al-Hilal have struggled without him. They exited the AFC Champions League at the group stage, crashed out of the King’s Cup and just about crawled over the line to win the Saudi Pro League by a solitary point. Whoever the new coach of Al-Hilal turns out to be, they are likely to build the side around a player who has scored 50 goals for the Riyadh giants and seven in last year’s AFC Champions League.
“I aspire to return fully recovered again and come back to serve Al-Hilal as I did before,” he said. “I believe I’ll come back stronger and I also hope to win the Asian Championship. It will not be possible this season, but it is important to me to win titles that I haven’t achieved yet. I won all titles with Al-Hilal but for me Asia is still missing.”
Al-Hilal are still yet to appoint a coach to replace Ramon Diaz, who they fired in February. Arab News learned that they had made contract with Quique Sanchez Flores, Shakhtar Donetsk manager Paulo Fonseca and Sporting manager Jorge Jesus, but Juan Ignacio Brown still remains in caretaker charge. Al-Hilal took the usual step last week of issuing a statement to clarify the recruitment process.
“The club did not negotiate with those names and didn’t seek to contract with them and the aim of this is to increase their contractual cost through some agents by mentioning the name of Al-Hilal due to the club’s popularity and high position,” it read.
Al-Hilal star Carlos Eduardo targets AFC Champions League glory after injury hell
Al-Hilal star Carlos Eduardo targets AFC Champions League glory after injury hell
- Brazilian has been out since November with a knee injury
- 'I believe I’ll come back stronger'
Nabucco Al-Maury has second crack at glory on Saudi Cup weekend
- French challenger aiming to go one better in the $1.5m Group 1 Al-Mneefah Cup
RIYADH: French raider Nabucco Al-Maury (FR) returns to Riyadh on Feb. 13 hoping to go one better than last year when finishing runner-up to RB Kingmaker (US) in the $1.5-million group one Al-Mneefah Cup, presented by the Ministry of Culture.
Trained in 2025 by Hamad Al-Jehani, the 6-year-old son of Assy (QA) joined the yard of Xavier Thomas-Demeaulte in Mont-de-Marsan last spring where he has continued to thrive.
Although he has not managed to reach the top step of the podium in the last couple of seasons, he has remained consistent. His last run in the group one The President Cup in December in Abu Dhabi, behind local champion HM Alchahine (FR), was particularly eye-catching.
“That was a really good performance,” said the French handler, who will also saddle the mare Lacaro du Croate (FR) in the 2,100-meter turf race.
“I didn’t train Nabucco Al-Maury when he came to Riyadh last year. He arrived in my yard in the spring, and we have progressively worked our way to the top.
“He has improved with each of his runs. His second place behind HM Alchahine was very good. We beat RB Kingmaker quite easily, which we hadn’t done before, so that was a great result.”
The Helal & Tahnon Alalawi-trained RB Kingmaker (US) will again feature amongst his opponents in the Al-Mneefah Cup. “I know that he is in it,” said the trainer.
“We beat him quite easily in Abu Dhabi, but he probably needed that race and we know he runs well in Riyadh.
“Maybe he will transform himself there. And I know that there is the very good mare of Alban de Mieulle, RB Mary Lylah (US), in the field, so we shall see.”
The only French-based trainer with runners in the two events for Purebred Arabians this year, he is also looking forward to saddling the 5-year-old mare Lacaro du Croate in the Al-Mneefah.
A winner of the group one Criterium des Pouliches – Wathba Stallions at La Teste in France last July, she has just made her seasonal reappearance in a conditions race at Pau where she finished second to dual Triple Crown champion Al-Ghadeer (FR).
“It was a good performance,” added the trainer. “She only saw Al-Ghadeer’s behind but that was to be expected. He did his job, she did hers. In fact, she did what we asked her to do.”
With exceptionally heavy rainfalls continuing across the southwest of France, their trainer decided last week to take both contenders to the Pau racecourse for a final blow-out.
“It’s just terrible how much rain we have had. Last weekend I was supposed to go away but then decided, no, I’m taking my horsebox and I’m going to drive to Pau to work them properly.
“Luckily, the jockeys were great and went along with my plan. They enjoyed a good gallop and are in good order.”
While Nabucco Al-Maury and Lacaro du Croate had to brave the difficult weather in France, Moshrif (FR), who is Thomas-Demeaulte’s runner in the $2 million group one Obaiya Arabian Classic, presented by Al-Hammadi Hospitals, has enjoyed the ambient temperatures in Riyadh.
“He has been in Riyadh for a while,” said the trainer. “We took him there for the prep race on Jan. 9, where he finished fifth. I hadn’t worked him a lot since he won his race in Morocco last year, so he wasn’t 100 percent fit yet, but it was still a good performance.”
The 8-year-old is a regular in Riyadh where he was the runner-up to the great Tilal Al-Khalediah in the 2024 running of the Al-Mneefah Cup, but this time he will tackle top-class opposition on dirt.
“He proved when ran in January that he can handle the dirt. He has been in Riyadh since that last run and I went out there 10 days ago to see how he was. He is in good form and I was very happy with him,” added Thomas-Demeaulte.
