Latest news with #SergejMilinkovic-Savic
Straits Times
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Straits Times
Big spending Al-Hilal fly Asian standard at Club World Cup
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 (PIF). Former Inter Milan coach Inzaghi, who lost in the Uefa Champions League final to Paris Saint-Germain, takes over a squad that 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 a group also featuring Real Madrid, Pachuca and Red Bull Salzburg, the expectations for Asia's three other clubs are likely to be more modest. Emirati 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 Serbian 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 Wydad in the group stage. At least one Asian team will go into the competition in decent form with Japanese outfit Urawa Red Diamonds showing improved domestic performances under Maciej Skorza. The Pole led Urawa to the Asian Champions League title in 2023, five months 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 that are contenders to win the 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 at the Club World Cup. 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, during which Ulsan reach the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League in 2021 and 2023. 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 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 world champions Germany in 2018. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The National
29-04-2025
- Sport
- The National
AFC Champions League: Sergej Milinkovic-Savic holds key for Al Hilal in box office semi-final against Al Ahli
It is a fallacy that overseas players find every game in the Saudi Pro League a cakewalk. Mainly because there are so many of them in each side. Among the big four clubs – Al Hilal, Al Nassr, Al Ahli Saudi and Al Ittihad – at least, it has come to feel more like an all-star league than a domestic one. That is a large part of the reason their trio of sides have been so dominant in the AFC Champions League Elite this season. In the opening match of the new finals event in Jeddah, Hilal had nine foreign players in the side to face Gwangju, including powerhouses like Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Aleksandar Mitrovic. Al Nassr's forward-line – Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and Jhon Duran – is rightly vaunted, but it was their Croatian dynamo Marcelo Brozovic who inspired their thrashing of Yokohama. And Ahli's challenge is led by Algeria's Riyad Mahrez, Englishman Ivan Toney and Ivorian Franck Kessie. Despite the calibre and quantity of imports, one has stood out above the rest. Watching Milinkovic-Savic in Hilal's midfield in particular so often feels like watching men against boys. There were times in Friday's quarter-final when he bulldozed through Gwangju players, then turned around to pick them up and make sure they were OK. He set the tone for this phase of the Champions League in the sixth minute against Gwangju, when he rose at the near post to glance in a Salem Al Dawsari corner. The goals flooded in for the Saudi clubs thereafter. He was named player of the match for another commanding performance. He was their driving force when Hilal won 31 of 34 league matches – drawing the other three – on their way to a Saudi domestic double last season. Maybe his global renown is not greater because he is hidden away from the view of the mainstream while playing in Saudi. The eyes of the world might remain trained on Europe, even though 10 of the 14 best paid players in the world – as per weekly gross salary – are now playing in Saudi. But for a Gulf-based audience, Milinkovic-Savic is hidden in plain sight, playing in front of an extraordinary set of fans, in a league not short of that. The idea that Saudi was trying to buy a football culture when it started its trolley dash for world stars a little over two years ago remains an awkward one. There were over 47,000 Hilal supporters in the stadium for their opening game against Gwangju on Friday night. They haven't just pitched up on the basis of a few glossy stars arriving from overseas in recent seasons. Yes, this tournament is being played in Saudi Arabia. But it is precisely 1,003kms door-to-door from the Kingdom Arena, Hilal's home ground in Riyadh, to the stadium informally known as The Jewel, in Jeddah, where the semi-final is taking place. Travelling in such vast numbers is remarkable, and the atmosphere in Tuesday's first semi-final – between Hilal and Ahli – promises to be electric. While Hilal's fans are exceptional – evidence their Game of Thrones-inspired tifo in the win over Gwangju – they will meet their match in the form of their Ahli counterparts. It was instructive that Matthias Jaissle, Ahli's German manager, and Kessie both referenced their club's supporters in almost every answer they gave in their pre-semi-final briefing – no matter the question. 'I hope it's clear to see the stadium tomorrow is more green than blue, but there are different rules as it is an AFC match, not a league match,' Jaissle said. 'We count on each one to support us, and that they know how grateful we are, and how much I appreciate the support of the fans.' While Hilal were all-conquering domestically last season, and have won Asia's top club competition more than anyone else, Jaissle appeared confident ahead of the encounter. Hilal have stuttered in the league of late, likely surrendering their lead to the other Jeddah giants, Al Ittihad. Their drop off in form included a 3-2 home defeat to Ahli at the end of February. 'Hilal is a club with such a lot of quality and a really professional infrastructure, so, of course, we need to be at our best level,' Jaissle said. 'We know, because of our last league match against them, we can beat them, but everything needs to fit together. 'All the details in all phases of the game need to be precise. Sometimes you also need a bit of luck, and then the extra energy of the fans, which will be there tomorrow for sure.' Kessie, the former AC Milan and Barcelona midfielder for Ahli, echoed his coach's view that Hilal are beatable, no matter their pedigree. 'It is going to be a difficult game and we know that,' Kessie said. 'We are playing against an opponent we know very well. We are ready, with our fans also.'
The National
27-04-2025
- Sport
- The National
Cristiano Ronaldo and Al Nassr thrash Yokohama F Marinos as Saudi clubs dominate in AFC Champions League
There was always a fear the cash-rich, star-studded sides from Saudi Arabia might overpower their guests from the east of the continent in the first AFC Champions League Elite Finals event. But perhaps not quite to this extent. As it has turned out, it has not even been close. The trio of teams from the Kingdom did not so much beat their opposition in the quarter finals of the new event in Jeddah as thrash them into a sorry pulp. It has been savage. On Friday's opening night, in front of 47,000 raucous fans, domestic champions Al Hilal were merciless against Gwangju. The South Korean side barely stood a chance. They were making their debut on this stage this season, having finished in their highest position of third in the K League last season. Hilal, by contrast, have been champions of Asia four times previously. To say there was a gulf between the two sides understates the point. Al Hilal won 7-0. The second match of the event, on Saturday, looked to be heading the same way. Playing at their own home ground, Al Ahli Saudi were 3-0 up by half-time against Buriram United. At least they eased off the gas thereafter, but the Thai side still were not able to strike a blow. Then, in the late game of Day 2, Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr cruised to a 4-1 win over Yokohama F Marinos. They did not even have to break sweat. The list of goalscorers across the three games is a clue to just how big the gap is between Saudi and the rest. It included Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Aleksandar Mitrovic for Hilal, and Riyad Mahrez and Roberto Firmino for Ahli. Each of the kingpin trio in the Nassr forward line made it on to the scoresheet: Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and Jhon Duran. While the sides from the rest of the continent have been playing catch up, the Saudi giants have been playing Monopoly between themselves over the past two and a half years. The gap between the haves and have-nots is now so vast, it is scarcely a fair fight. Yokohama had reached the final of Asia's top club competition last year, and were only stopped from lifting the trophy by a Soufiane Rahimi-inspired Al Ain. Unlike the holders from the UAE's garden city, at least the Japanese side made it as far as the last eight this time around. Somehow, despite now sitting dead last in the J League, Yokohama topped the league phase of the East region of this competition. Maybe that says more about that side of the draw than it does their qualities. Kawasaki Frontale, also from Japan, could yet strike a blow for the east in the last match of the round. They play Al Sadd of Qatar in the last quarter final on Sunday night, but it feels highly unlikely at this stage the winner of the tournament will come from that fixture. Yokohama only arrived in Jeddah with modest ambitions, so troubled has life been for them since they finished runners up last season. Harry Kewell, who cut an odd and irritable figure on the touchline in last year's final second-leg in Al Ain, has long since been displaced as Yokohama's manager. Steve Holland, the former England assistant coach, was also shipped out from the position recently, meaning the Japanese side arrived here with an interim in charge. Strangely, despite their problems this season, Yokohama actually settled well against their vaunted opposition. At least until Thomas Deng, their Australia centre back, sliced a clearance against a post. It rebounded kindly into the path of Duran, and the floodgates were opened. It was the first of two for the Colombian striker. Mane added a second not long after. Kouta Watanabe summed up Yokohama's travails. He meant well, and got himself a goal – the only one anyone managed against the Saudi sides. But he also picked up two yellow cards and was sent off. It was all so easy for the Riyadh-based team, Ronaldo even had a little sit down on the advertising board after his goal. He might have been having a rest ahead of time. When he was substituted in the 67th minute he was limping, having been felled in a collision with the Yokohama goalkeeper. His continued participation in the tournament did not seem to be a concern, though. Rather Stefano Pioli, the manager, was putting him on ice ahead of Wednesday's semi-final. Nassr will play the winner of the Sadd game against Kawasaki, while Hilal and Ahli will meet in the first semi-final on Tuesday evening.
Arab News
31-01-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
Hilal, Ettifaq return to winning ways
RIYADH: Al-Hilal returned to winning ways on Friday, defeating Al-Okhdood 4-0 to go three points clear of Al-Ittihad at the top of the Saudi Pro League table. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport Kaio's first words after his fantastic debut — AlHilal Saudi Club (@Alhilal_EN) January 31, 2025 It was the perfect start but the Blue Waves had to wait until the end of the first half to establish their dominance. Two minutes before the break, Serbian midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic curled a free kick worthy of Cristiano Ronaldo into the top corner, and two minutes into added time Marcos Leonardo headed home at the far post following a headed cross from Saudi Arabian international Hassan Tambakti. The Brazilian forward scored a second from close range just 10 minutes after the restart to seal the win. While the victory put Al-Hilal back on top of the table, Al-Ittihad will join them on points if they beat Al-Kholood at home on Saturday. Later on Friday Ettifaq recorded a much-needed 3-1 win over Al-Shabab, just a day after the departure of head coach Steven Gerrard. Gini Wijnaldum put the hosts ahead after 35 minutes and despite a quick response from Abderazzak Hamdallah goals from Joao Costa and a second for the Dutchman deep into injury time put the game beyond reach.
