The AFC Champions League final (Saturday, 9.11.2019, 17:30 CET) is one of these moments that design the faith of football identities.
Those exact destiny defining minutes will call and answer one of the hardest questions in Asian football:
Can Al-Hilal, one of the greatest clubs in world football, become a true giant on-field, as much as it is off the field? Can a-Za’im finally gain the same impact it has in the terraces, but on the grass? Can Riyadh’s Blues conquer Asia again as they did 19 years ago?
A brief look on the close history of club and continent hints that it won’t be easy.
Al-Hilal Running up
It is necessary to acknowledge that if the Western final between Al-Sadd and Al-Hilal would have had a different referee we might have seen a different team in the final. Still, the sending off of Abdulkarim Hassan left its mark, and Al-Hilal enjoyed the doubt in the greatest double header Middle Eastern football has seen in a while. In any case, that is history and the Saudis are a well deserved finalist.
Al-Hilal is a mega club in Saudi, Middle Eastern, Asian and global standards. It has won 58 titles throughout the years, since the club’s foundation in October 1957. The club has won a record number of six continental titles, with two Champions League trophies, two Cup Winners Cups and two Asian Super Cups. But it is another continental record that makes the Hilalys to scratch their heads in worry. Al-Hilal is the only club to finish four times as the runner up of the Asian Champions League. They qualified for six finals and lost four (!). Two of these losses arrived in recent years: the shocking defeat against Australian Cinderella Western Sydney Wanderers in 2014; and the sour loss in 2017, to the hands of Urawa Red Diamonds, their rivals in this year’s final. Usually when Al-Hilal reach this stage, they blow it. But why does it happen?
Expectations and Anxiety
“With big powers comes big responsibility”, Spiderman infamously said, and he was right. The fact that Al-Hilal is such a huge club, with tens of millions of fans across the Arab world, comes with a heavy price. The fans expectations give the players and the staff hard times and moreover are encouraging the traditional short-termistic approach of the board. In Al-Hilal, two draws and a loss are a true justification for sacking the coach, releasing the stars and shuffling the cards. It happened in 2014, as well as in 2017. Just ask Ramon Diaz and Omar Khribin, two who haven’t recovered from that loss to Urawa and Rafael Silva. This season, with the competitions top scorer Bafetimbi Gomis, Sebastian Giovinco and Andre Carrillo the Peruvian - the expectations are higher than ever. It is a must win for the fans, what makes it even a bigger quest.
The Eastern Curse
Unbelievably, the last Middle Eastern team to win the Asian Champions League is no other than Qatari giant Al-Sadd, who did it in style in 2011 after beating Jeonbuk from South Korea. Since then, no other West Asian club has tasted the glory flavor of winning the ring-shaped trophy.
The format of the competition has long been criticized for the fact that teams from East Asia and West Asia are playing each other only in the final. It is quite understandable why, although the logistics of handling an all-around Champions League tournament in Asia does seem to be currently beyond human’s hand. Nevertheless, this cannot be used as an excuse for the underachieving decade of few of Asia’s greatest brands - such as Al-Hilal, Ittihad, Al-Sadd, Al-Ain, as well as Persepolis and Esteghlal. Middle Eastern football’s long wait for continental respect must end, and although a few of them were close to winning it in past seasons - enough is enough. The time to win is now.
If Al-Hilal can get over their losing tradition in Champions League finals, rise above the massive expectations and stress and end the Eastern curse that took over the tournament in the past eight years, then there is hope for the fans. And if Gomis will be in the right spot, to enjoy Giovinco’s pass and Salem Al-Dawsri’s chip, then the Hilalys can be optimistic. And if not?
Allah hu akbar.