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.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Al-Hilal, majority owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, have signed a string of world-class players over the last two years including Neymar, Malcom, Ruben Neves, Marcos Leonardo and Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Although Neymar has left the club and Mitrovic remains sidelined with a calf injury, the depth of the squad has allowed Al-Hilal to weather the pressure of the big stage.
KEY QUOTES
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.”
