WASHINGTON D.C.: Nineteen-time Saudi Arabian champions Al-Hilal held European giants Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw in their opening match of the FIFA Club World Cup in Miami on Wednesday night as Ruben Neves’ penalty cancelled out Gonzalo Garcia’s opener.
Impressively dominant for much of the first half, Hilal were in the end grateful to goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, who saved an added time penalty from Federico Valverde to secure a point.
Bono puts in star turn inside the Hard Rock
With the name “BONO” on his back, Hilal goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was destined to put in a star turn inside the Hard Rock Stadium.
Not to be confused with the U2 singer, Bounou was relatively quiet in the first-half as Hilal peppered the goal of his opposite number, Thibaut Courtois, with 11 shots.
Blameless for Gonzalo Garcia’s first-half goal, which ricocheted off the Madrid player’s own planted foot to bobble up and over the diving Moroccan, Bounou was called into action more regularly in the second half.
Vini Jr found more space on the left, substitute Arda Guler danced dangerously around midfield, and Gonzalo Garcia forced a pair of smart saves.
Yet it was in injury-time that Bounou took center stage. The 34-year-old, who came close to joining Madrid before making the move to Hilal from Sevilla in August 2023, produced a rock star penalty save fitting of the setting.
This ensured the 2021 AFC Asian champions held on to what could be a crucial point in their quest to progress through Group H.
Al-Dawsari within millimeters of reproducing big stage heroics
Al-Hilal captain Salem Al-Dawsari was already the talk of the Spanish-speaking media before the match kicked off in Miami as they seemed to realize who the No. 29 was.
The forward had etched his name into the annals of global football at the World Cup 2022 in Qatar when he scored the winning goal against eventual winners Argentina, handing Messi and company their only defeat of the tournament.
He has Club World Cup pedigree too, having netted three goals across two semifinals in 2019 and 2022. Could he — would he — do it again?
A constant threat on the left side of Hilal’s attack, the 33-year-old repeatedly exploited the space behind Madrid new boy Trent Alexander-Arnold.
On the stroke of half-time, just minutes after Neves had equalized, he came within millimeters of replicating his World Cup feat.
He drove at the Madrid defense, played a cute combo with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, and fired at goal only to see his curling effort nick a white boot and bend the wrong side of the far post. It deserved more, and so did Al-Dawsari, who was at the heart of all Hilal’s attacks in the first half.
Inzaghi ‘completely satisfied’ following ‘wonderful performance’
While Madrid’s new coach Xabi Alonso seemed content at times to sit in his dugout and let his players do what was asked, Hilal coach Simone Inzaghi, also leading out his new club for the first time, instead appeared to be a constant ball of tension as he tried to drill messages into his players.
The Italian led Inter Milan to two UEFA Champions League finals in three years, but has barely unpacked in Riyadh since replacing the departing Jorge Jesus.
He already finds himself in the midst of a continental tournament where his club, as the sole representative of a league and country changing the face of global football, is under huge scrutiny.
Yet he said post-match he could not have asked for more from his players.
Praising them for their “high organization and wonderful performance,” Inzaghi said he was “completely satisfied.”
Fullback Joao Cancelo joked he was not quite as content: “We know Italian coaches are very tactical. He has different ideas to Jesus, very good ideas, but we have run too much in training — too much.”
Arab talent gets its chance to shine
While Inzaghi’s first Hilal lineup included only three Saudi Arabia nationals — and notably only one less than the Madrid team had Spaniards — he was not afraid to trust them in the later stages of the tie, even as they tried to stem a flow of attacks from Los Blancos.
And while it was Mohammed Al-Qahtani who was harshly adjudged to have fouled Garcia for Madrid’s injury time penalty, when the final whistle blew, seven Saudi players were on the field — a fact not lost on Hilal forward Malcom.
“Al-Hilal is the biggest team in Asia and we are very happy to have the best Arab players in our squad,” the Brazilian told Arab News.
“They have a very high level and that is what makes the biggest difference when we play in our domestic championships. They have a lot of quality, so it is easy to trust them.”
Inzaghi saved special mention for his three starters: captain Al-Dawsari, Hassan Tambakti, and Nasser Al-Dawsari, revealing he only told them they would play three days earlier.
“They bring great value to the team,” the coach said. “Arab players possess quality and they proved that today.”
Fans turn South Beach blue
Hilal fans may have been vastly outnumbered amid the 62,415 fans inside the Hard Rock Stadium, but in South Beach at least, the Saudi club’s azure blue has been as inescapable as the Miami heat this week.
Set up next to a hookah bar on the bustling pedestrianized Lincoln Road, an interactive fan fest complete with immersive virtual reality shooting drills and a reactive rondo testing ball control, proved such a hit that organizers ran out of flags and other prizes.
Even the local sportswear shops felt obliged to apologize for selling out of Hilal merchandise.
Once the action got underway, 15-time European champions Madrid — unsurprisingly one of the best supported teams in a city where Spanish at times feels like the first language — enjoyed the lion’s share of support.
Hilal though were not without their moments.
Chants of “Heeeeeeelal” went round the ground sporadically, while Neves’ equalizer shortly before half-time saw the little blue pockets of fans erupt in song to share a little Riyadhi vibe to proceedings.
Hala Hilal, indeed.
