Big-spending Saudi side Al-Hilal fly Asian standard at Club World Cup
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Al Hilal's Aleksandar Mitrovic celebrates scoring a goal against Al Qadsiah on May 26.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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HONG KONG – Al-Hilal will be the standard-bearers for Asian football at the revamped Fifa Club World Cup starting this weekend, after appointing Simone Inzaghi to coach a squad bristling with playing talent from Saudi Arabia and around the world.
Big European names like Ruben Neves, Joao Cancelo, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic have all joined Saudi captain Salem Al-Dawsari at the Riyadh-based club since they received major investment from the nation’s Public Investment Fund.
Former Inter Milan coach Inzaghi, who lost in the Uefa Champions League final to Paris Saint-Germain, takes over a side who fell short of their lofty standards by failing to win a fifth Asian Champions League title in May – a misstep that cost Jorge Jesus the chance to lead the team to the Club World Cup.
“My desire had always been to be able to go and coach abroad and for me, Al-Hilal is a great opportunity in my career. Al-Hilal is a club I know because I follow Arab football,” said Inzaghi.
“I have always followed Al-Hilal with big sympathy because they have Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, whom I have coached before at Lazio, and I am happy to have found him at the club.”
While Al-Hilal head to the tournament with ambitions of making a big impact in Group H, also featuring Real Madrid, Pachuca and RB Salzburg, the expectations for Asia’s three other clubs are likely to be more modest.
United Arab Emirates side Al-Ain won the 2024 Asian Champions League to secure their berth but have endured a dismal 13 months since, and the defence of their continental title ended in ignominy with no wins from eight matches.
Hernan Crespo, who had led the club to their second Asian title, paid the price in November but his replacement Leonardo Jardim lasted only two months before Serb Vladimir Ivic was drafted in to try to stop the rot.
Togolese striker Kodjo Laba, who was top scorer in the UAE Pro League last season, and Moroccan winger Soufiane Rahimi will be Al-Ain’s biggest attacking threats when they take on Manchester City, Juventus and Morocco’s Wydad in Group G.
At least one Asian team will go into the competition in decent form, with Japanese outfit Urawa Red Diamonds
The Pole led Urawa to the Asian Champions League title in 2023 after replacing Ricardo Rodriguez, only to leave at the end of that season for personal reasons.
He returned in late 2024 and has developed a side who are contenders to win the J.League for the first time since their sole title in 2006.
Former Japan midfielder Genki Haraguchi has returned to Urawa after a decade in Germany to lead the club’s resurgence alongside the experienced Takahiro Sekine, who was instrumental in the club’s Asian Champions League wins in 2017 and 2022.
Urawa have been drawn with River Plate, Inter Milan and Monterrey in Group E.
South Korea’s Ulsan HD will be playing in the competition for the third time after featuring in the earlier iteration in 2012 and 2020.
Kim Pan-gon’s side qualified due to the club’s record in Asian competition over the last four years, when Ulsan reached the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League in 2021 and 2023-24.
Both of those runs, though, were achieved under former coach Hong Myung-bo, now the South Korea national team boss, with the team’s performances becoming more inconsistent after Kim’s arrival last summer.
The former Malaysia coach took over with minimal exposure to top-level club football and his side, who will play Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund and South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns in Group F, face a stiff challenge to make a positive impact in the United States.
Jung Woo-young played at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and brings stability to the Ulsan midfield, while goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo played a key role as South Korea eliminated then world champions Germany in 2018. REUTERS
