Sultan Al Ali (Union)
The “Yellow Continent” is awaiting the second leg of the AFC Champions League final, between Al Hilal Saudi Arabia and Urawa Reds of Japan, on Saturday, in a confrontation that will be repeated for the third time in the last 6 years between the two great teams.
The “leader” is armed with a history of outperforming the “samurai” in all Asian forums, and he hopes to continue this, to be crowned with gold, despite the unsatisfactory result in the first-leg match with a 1-1 draw in Saudi Arabia.
The number of Al-Hilal’s confrontations against Japanese clubs reached 10 previous meetings, in various Asian championships, and Al-Azraq managed to win 5 of them, draw 3 times, lose twice, and score 17 goals, while conceding 12 goals.
The first confrontation dates back to 1986 in the final of the Asian Club Championship for Champions League against JEF United, at which time Al Hilal lost to the Japanese team 4-3, and in Riyadh due to the assembly system and finished runner-up to the Japanese team that won the title.
In 1997, Al-Hilal played its second confrontation against the “Sons of Samurai”, this time in the Asian Cup Winners’ Club Championship against Nagoya Grampus, and the “Blue” managed to win the final 3-1, and achieve the Asian title.
Three years later, in the “2000 edition” of the Asian League Champions League, I attended the third confrontation, and in the final match again between Al-Hilal and Jubilo Iwata, that final that witnessed dramatic events, after Al-Hilal advanced with a goal in the 3rd minute, the Japanese club returned with two goals in the 18th and 19th minutes. And the “leader” continued losing until the 89th minute, which witnessed the scoring of the equalizing goal, after which Al-Hilal decided the match in the 102nd minute with extra innings, to achieve the precious title.
It is noteworthy that all the goals of Al-Hilal came with the feet of the Brazilian Ricardo, to write his name as a “hat-trick” in the final of the largest continent.
As the champion of the competition, Al Hilal played two matches in the Asian Super Cup against Japan’s Shimizu S Plus, who clinched the Club Cup Winners’ Cup title in the same season, and Al Hilal managed to capture the title, after winning the first leg 2-1 in Japan and drawing back 1-1 in Saudi Arabia.
After this confrontation, the Japanese Al-Hilal matches were absent from the scene for 17 years, and returned in the 2017 AFC Champions Final against Urawa, who prevented Al-Hilal from the title, after a 1-1 draw in Saudi Arabia, and victory in Japan with a goal.
The confrontation for the title was renewed after only two years in 2019, and this time Al-Zaeem was able to win the title well, after winning back and forth against Urawa with a total of 3-0, a title that broke the long-suffering of the crescents in the competition.
And the meeting of the two teams was renewed for the third time for the AFC Champions title in this version, and the first leg ended in a 1-1 draw in Saudi Arabia, and the result is not considered satisfactory to the Hilalis, as the Japanese team is armed with the factor of the land and the audience, and the absence of Salem Al-Dosari, due to the expulsion, forces Ramon Diaz to make unforeseen changes to the squad,
Will Al-Hilali’s “leader” continue to dominate Asia, or will Urawa Red’s word be the decisive factor and embracing achievement?
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