RIYADH: The Saudi Arabian football season of 2024-2025 kicks off next week when last year’s top four finishers in the Roshn Saudi League compete for the Saudi Super Cup.
The traditional curtain-raiser of domestic football in the Kingdom, the Saudi Super Cup will see Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli, Al-Taawoun and domestic treble winners Al-Hilal competing for the prestigious trophy in Abha between Aug. 13 and 17.
The four clubs will compete for the honor at the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Stadium in the picturesque city of Abha for the first time.
This year’s tournament continues with the expanded four-team format introduced in 2023.
The semifinals will see Al-Hilal face Al-Ahli on Aug. 13, with Al-Nassr taking on Al-Taawoun the following day. The final is to be held at 7:15 p.m. Saudi time on Aug. 17.
Al-Hilal, as treble winners last season, will be aiming to maintain their impressive form from the 2023-24 campaign which saw the Riyadh side, under Portuguese manager Jorge Jesus, secure their record 19th league title.
Portugal’s Ruben Neves, Serbian duo Aleksandar Mitrovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, and the returning Neymar are all set to feature in the season-opening competition.
Al-Ahli, who are returning for their second top-flight season, will provide a tough test for last year’s champions as the Jeddah club aim to secure their first Super Cup victory since 2016.
With a strong pre-season behind them and featuring the return of international stars in Edouard Mendy, Riyad Mahrez and Roberto Firmino, Al-Ahli will be difficult to beat.
Al-Nassr, led by Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, will have their sights set on redemption going into the new season, after a dramatic penalty shoot-out defeat in the King Cup final ended a difficult campaign.
With new signing Brazilian goalkeeper Bento set to feature, the Riyadh side will be aiming to add to their two previous successes in the Saudi Super Cup.
Al-Taawoun will look to replicate the fine form that saw the Buraydah outfit achieve an impressive fourth-place finish in the top flight. Led for the first time by new manager Rodolfo Arruabarrena, the side will aim to provide an early shock in the new season.
The Saudi Super Cup represents the start of a historic new season of domestic football in Saudi Arabia and is the first football tournament to take place in the Kingdom since the historic announcement of the country’s official bid to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
For more information on how to purchase tickets for the Saudi Super Cup, visit: https://webook.com/en/saudi-super-cup-2024
Saudi Arabia’s new football season kicks off next week with the Saudi Super Cup
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Saudi Arabia’s new football season kicks off next week with the Saudi Super Cup
- Trophy will see Al-Nassr, Al-Ahli, Al-Taawoun, domestic treble winners Al-Hilal playing between Aug. 13-17
- The 4 clubs will compete at the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Stadium in Abha for the first time
Qatar’s Al-Attiyah wins Stage 6 for Dacia, retakes Dakar lead
- Al-Attiyah, 55, has now completed 19 successive Dakars with at least one stage win every time
RIYADH: Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah will lead the Dakar Rally into its second and final week after winning the sixth stage in the Saudi desert on Friday to take over at the top from South African rival Henk Lategan.
Al-Attiyah, a five-time Dakar winner now competing for the Dacia Sandriders, had been second overnight but turned a deficit of more than three minutes into a 6 minutes and 10 second advantage over the 326km timed stage between Hail and Riyadh.
Saturday is a rest day before the rally resumes in Riyadh on Sunday with seven more stages to the finish in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast on Jan. 17.
Al-Attiyah won Friday’s stage by two minutes and 58 seconds from teammate and nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb, Dacia’s first Dakar one-two, with Toyota’s American Seth Quintero third.
Overall, three different manufacturers filled podium positions with Toyota’s Lategan second and Ford’s Nani Roma third — his first time on the virtual podium since 2019.
Al-Attiyah, 55, has now completed 19 successive Dakars with at least one stage win every time.
Friday was his career 49th stage win in the car category — one off the record held jointly by Ari Vatanen and “Mr Dakar” Stephane Peterhansel.
Spaniard Carlos Sainz, father of the Formula One driver and a four-time Dakar winner still racing hard at the age of 63, was in fourth place for Ford with teammate Mattias Ekstrom fifth and Loeb sixth.
American Mitch Guthrie, stage winner on Thursday for Ford, dropped to seventh from sixth.
In the motorcycle category there was no change at the top, although leader and defending champion Daniel Sanders was handed a 6-minute penalty for riding at 98kph in a zone limited to 50kph.
KTM rider Sanders now leads Honda’s American Ricky Brabec, the stage winner after the Australian’s penalty, by 45 seconds with Argentine rider Luciano Benavides more than 10 minutes behind in third.
“It was an emotional rollercoaster all day. Unfortunately, I got a speeding penalty, so that will set me back a bit,” said Sanders.
“I just pushed as much as I could today but it’s hard to do good in the sand, especially opening. I did the best I could and I’ve got to stop making silly mistakes. I haven’t pieced this first week together so well.”
