Inzaghi proud as Al-Hilal join 'the best' in Club World Cup knockout stage
27 June 2025 09:21
(Reuters)Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal became the only Asian side to reach the Club World Cup's knockout stages with a 2-0 win over Pachuca on Thursday, finishing their Group H campaign unbeaten and setting up a round-of-16 meeting with Manchester City.Al-Hilal showed they could compete with the best teams in the world when they held Real Madrid and Red Bull Salzburg to draws in their first two games under new coach Simone Inzaghi.They have conceded just one goal in their three matches, sharing the best defensive record of the group stage with Paris St Germain and Monterrey.Al-Hilal coach Simone Inzaghi: "Our goal was to achieve (being in) the group of the best teams in the world."It was not an easy task, but the team was well united. It fought during the three games for a great objective ... we were not coming here just to have fun, we were coming here to play a World Cup and we wanted to reach this stage.
"Now we'll have to play against Manchester City ... it's one of the greatest teams in the world. These are the games where you can improve and you can mature as a team, so I'm very proud."
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