JEDDAH: Manchester City will play Urawa Red Diamonds in the Club World Cup semifinals after the Asian champion beat León of Mexico 1-0 on Friday.
Saudi Arabian champion Al-Ittihad, captained by Karim Benzema, played Al Ahly, the Egyptian champion of Africa, later Friday in the other second-round game. The winner will face Fluminense of Brazil in the semifinals next week.
Urawa’s win was sealed with a 78th-minute goal by Dutch forward Alex Schalk, who squeezed a low, angled shot past advancing León goalkeeper Rodolfo Cota.
Schalk’s journey from his native Netherlands to Japan took him via the north of Scotland, where he spent three seasons at Ross County, and to Switzerland with Servette, where the first of his four years was in the second division.
Urawa earned their place at the seven-team Club World Cup by winning the Asian Champions League in February, beating Saudi club Al-Hilal in the final. Al-Hilal have since spent lavishly on players from European clubs including Neymar, Aleksandar Mitrović and Ruben Neves.
The last Club World Cup in the traditional short format for continental champions plus the host nation’s domestic league winner is the first to be played in Saudi Arabia, in two stadiums in Jeddah.
Al-Ittihad will host Al Ahly in their own King Abdullah Sports City stadium where a crowd of more than 50,000 saw the team beat Oceania champion Auckland City 3-0 on Tuesday in the tournament opener.
The attendance on Friday was 2,525 at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium to see Urawa’s win.
Man City will play Urawa at King Abdullah Sports City on Tuesday, one day after the same stadium stages Fluminense playing Al-Ittihad or Al Ahly.
The next Club World Cup in June-July 2025 will be a relaunch with 32 teams — the 12 from Europe will include recent Champions League winners Man City, Real Madrid and Chelsea — and played in the United States. The event will then be played every four years, in the year before men’s World Cups.
Manchester City to face Urawa at Club World Cup after Asian champion beats Mexico’s León
https://arab.news/jrgrq
Manchester City to face Urawa at Club World Cup after Asian champion beats Mexico’s León
- Urawa’s win was sealed with a 78th-minute goal by Dutch forward Alex Schalk
- Urawa earned their place at the seven-team Club World Cup by winning the Asian Champions League in February
Al-Ahli win again to climb to second in Saudi Pro League table
- The reigning Asian champions continued their recent improved domestic form with a 3-0 win at Neom
DUBAI: Al-Ahli on Saturday night continued their hot streak of form to climb to second in the Saudi Pro League table with a comfortable 3-0 away win against 10-man Neom.
The latest victory means the reigning AFC Champions League winners have now won seven league matches in a row and sit on 40 points from 17 matches, four points behind leaders Al-Hilal and three ahead of third-placed Al-Nassr. However, the two Riyadh teams are yet to play in Matchday 18.
After a scoreless first half, Al-Ahli took the lead from an Ivan Toney penalty on 55 minutes before Neom were left with a mountain to climb after the defender Khalifa Al-Dawsari was sent off six minutes later.
Riyad Mahrez and Enzo Millot confirmed a dominant win for Al-Ahli with two quick-fire strikes in the 64th and 67th minutes. Neom’s defeat sees them drop to 10th in the standings.
Earlier in the day, struggling Al-Shabab’s troubles continued when they could only manage a 0-0 draw against 10-man Khaleej Club, leaving the clubs in 14th and eighth respectively in the table.
In Saturday’s other fixture, two second-half goals by Khalid Al-Ghannam helped Ettifaq to a 2-1 win against Al-Kholood in Ar Rass, after Ramiro Enrique had given the home team a 16th-minute lead.
The win sees Ettifaq rise to sixth in the table while Al-Kholood remain in 12th.
