Miami Gardens (United States) (AFP) – Federico Valverde missed a stoppage-time penalty as Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal in the Club World Cup on Wednesday. A large contingent of Real fans in a crowd of 62,415 at the Hard Rock Stadium were left frustrated after new manager Xabi Alonso’s first game in charge ended with the points shared.
For the Saudi club, with Italian Simone Inzaghi also making his debut on the bench, it was an impressive performance where they caused Real’s defense plenty of problems before securing a hugely encouraging surprise result. Al-Hilal started off in effervescent fashion and went close in the 19th minute when Salem Aldawsari volleyed back into the box, and Marcos Leonardo’s effort flew just wide. Renan Lodi had the ball in the net for the Saudi side, but the effort was ruled out for offside from another dangerous break. Aldawsari showed his pace but dragged his shot just wide.
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Real gradually gained more control over the game, and Rodrygo went close in the 31st minute when he cut in from the right, and his left-foot effort zipped just over the bar. But Real’s quality was starting to shine through, and they grabbed the lead in the 34th minute. Gonzalo, starting in place of the absent Kylian Mbappe, started the break from deep, and a clever exchange of passes concluded with Rodrygo drilling a low ball into the box where Gonzalo, who had continued his run, provided a delicate finish. It was a classic counter-attacking goal, but it did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the Saudi side, who continued to press forward with energy.
Four minutes before the break, they drew level when Raul Asencio was ruled to have pulled down Marcos Leonardo, and Portugal international Ruben Neves calmly tucked away the penalty. The dangerous Aldawsari, who scored the winner for Saudi Arabia in their upset win over Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar, threatened again just before the break. But Real came out strongly after the interval with Arda Guler introduced at the break, rattling the bar with a volley from a Vinicius Jr. cross.
Moments later, Gonzalo brought a fine save out of Yassine Bounou with a firm header from a Vinicius cross, and then Valverde flashed a shot wide from 25 yards out. Having survived that storm from Real, Al-Hilal began to creep back into the game and ask some questions again of the Real defense, with Marcos Leonardo failing to make the most of two good opportunities. But with three minutes of normal time remaining, Real were handed the chance to take all three points when Mohammed Al Qahtani was ruled to have put his hand in the face of Fran Garcia as he tried to hold off the challenge of the Real left-back. However, Valverde’s shot was saved by the diving Bounou to give the Saudi team a point after a hugely creditable performance.
“It was a good match for my team. They played very well. We played an excellent, organized team game. Together, we stood up to Real Madrid, which I think is one of the three strongest teams in the world. I am very satisfied,” said Inzaghi. “In short, I couldn’t have asked for more. I was confident. I said yesterday that I had seen the team working well, but a performance like this, also thinking about what is to come, makes me very happy as a coach,” he added.
Alonso was pleased with the way his team had reacted after a poor opening 45 minutes. “In the first half, we were lacking a lot of things, with and without the ball. I think we lost the ball too quickly, we didn’t have much balance, and these are things we had talked about, and it took us a little longer to get right,” he said. “I liked the reaction at half-time; we were able to give the game another meaning, another rhythm, have more people giving it a good pause, and good control of the game.”
© 2024 AFP
