Al-Hilal beats Wydad on penalties and will meet Flamengo again

The premiere of Flamengo in the Club World Cup will be against Al-Hilal. In the opening game of the tournament this Saturday afternoon, the Saudi Arabian team defeated Wydad Casablanca, from Morocco, on penalties to remain alive in the competition. Al-Hilal managed to tie the game 1-1 in the second half and, after almost turning around in overtime, confirmed the classification with a 5-3 victory on penalties. The game took place at the Complexe Sportif Moulay Abdellah in Rabat.

Flamengo and Al-Hilal will face each other next Tuesday, at 4 pm, in the city of Tangier, at the Prince Moulay Abedellah stadium. The teams will repeat the 2019 semifinal, won by the rubro-negro team by 3 to 1. Coach Victor Pereira and his coaching staff followed this Saturday’s confrontation straight from the stadium

With a chilling party from the Moroccan Wydad Casablanca fans, the athletes showed all their excitement with the uninterrupted noise coming from the stands. In addition to singing, Wydad fans set up a mosaic and a flag for the game. The Morocco team dominated the first part of the game, but let the victory slip away in the final moments.

The home team’s first attempt came from a long shot, which passed with danger. Captain Jabrane was responsible for another dangerous move in the game, amending a finish from the edge of the area after a free kick for the home team. Better at the start of the match, Wydad Casablanca even opened the scoring, but the goal was annulled for offside. Despite having the ball more, Al-Hilal created little in the first half.

Al-Hilal’s posture changed for the second half and the Saudi team finally took the opponents by storm, putting a lot of pressure in the opening five minutes. But the excitement was soon stopped by Wydad Casablanca, who opened the scoring in the 8th minute. After a very dangerous move on the counterattack, Wydad managed to corner and, in the collection, El Amloud finished with a header after deflecting the defense. The ball still touched the crossbar before entering.

With the duo of former Flamengo athletes on the field, Michael and Cuéllar, Al-Hilal went on the attack in search of a draw and began to dominate the confrontation. The pressure resulted in a controversial move after a Wydad defender saved an Al-Dawsari shot off the line. The arbitration analyzed a possible touch on the arm and ordered the game to continue.

Two minutes to the 45 of the second half, Al-Hilal got a penalty to set fire to the final stretch of the match. Dissatisfied, Captain Jabrane overtook the claim and was expelled. Kanno took the ball for the kick, hit it safely in the middle of the goal and tied the match 1-1 in the final seconds, sending the game into extra time.

With one more, Al-Hilal still found time to press in search of the turnaround in the added time, but the score remained tied and the decision went to overtime. To balance the duel, Kanno was expelled at the beginning of the extension because he gave a hard entrance to the opponent.

The Saudi Arabia team followed better, but Wydad arrived in punctual danger bids. Almost in the last bid of the first half of extra time, striker Marega wasted a great chance to turn to Al-Hilal. The attacker received it in the area, but finished over the goal.

In the penalty kicks, Al-Hilal started the beats and was impeccable. Marega, Vietto, Al-Shehri, Al-Hamddan and Aljuwayr did not waste their kicks. On Wydad’s side, Allah hit the post on the first attempt and the goals scored in the sequence by Amloud, Ounajem and Daoudi only postponed the elimination of the Moroccan team.