Sports fans in Saudi Arabia were holding their breath during the quarterfinal draw for the Asian Champions League and Asian Federation Cup. The results of the draw in Kuala Lumpur last June 14 were quite tough especially for Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli.
Hilal will face Ulsan Hyundai in Seoul first then in Riyadh. History will show us that Hilal seems to have a better edge against Korean teams especially in Asian competitions, but right now Hilal seems to be unprepared.
They still don’t have new foreign players or at least a coach and time is running out! Hilal must not rest on their laurels and be complacent because there is no guarantee of a win except hard work.
Ahli, on the other hand, will fly to Asfahan in Iran to take on Sapahan, which is not only a very strong team but also a lucky one. Last year, they got disqualified against Saad from Qatar and they left the championship. I think Ahli can win as long as they don’t underestimate Sapahan, which I personally think is a good contender.
Al-Ittihad is playing against Guangzhou Evergrande in Jeddah first then Guangzhou in the second leg. I think this team is more lucky than good. Even though their coach is a World Cup winner with his national team, Italy, Marcello Lippi was not able to transform this team into a strong and fearful team. Ittihad, then must take advantage of this especially as they are the only Saudi side to play the first leg match at home.
Finally, Al-Ittifaq, the only Saudi team competing in the Asian Federation Cup, has the best chance of winning. Ittifaq is currently the strongest in my opinion and they will clash with Arema Indonesia in the quarterfinal.
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