Al Hilal will meet Al-Ittihad in the Diriyah Saudi Super Cup final, tomorrow, at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, after they defeated Al-Nasr and Al-Wahda in the semi-finals, while the two teams compete to achieve a number of unprecedented records.
The defending champion, Al-Ittihad, won the first semi-final, defeating Al-Wahda by two goals to one at Al Nahyan Stadium, while Al-Hilal beat its traditional rival Al-Nasr by the same score at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, in a match that witnessed Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo getting the red card.
Al-Hilal will meet Al-Ittihad for the sixth time this season, as Al-Zaeem won five matches (in the Saudi League, the AFC Champions League, and the Arab Club Championship). As for the level of records, Al-Hilal strengthened its world historical record, by winning the 33rd match in a row. .
On the other hand, the French star Karim Benzema, the Jeddah striker, got rid of a long goal-scoring problem, after scoring against Al-Wahda, so that the former Real Madrid player scored his first goal this year, while it was the French star’s first goal with Al-Ittihad after a goal drought that lasted 115 days since. He scored against Al-Ahly of Egypt on December 15, 2023, in the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup.
Benzema achieved a wonderful achievement after scoring the fastest goal in the history of the Saudi Super Cup, by scoring the first goal after 56 seconds against the “Knights of Mecca.”
This goal is considered the fastest in the history of the Saudi Super Championship matches that started in 2013, as Benzema surpassed the goal of the Congolese Doris Salomo, the former Al-Fateh striker, against Al-Ittihad during the 2013 edition, as it came after only a minute and 15 seconds.
Benzema (36 years old) raised his tally to 13 goals, in addition to eight assists, in 27 matches he played in various competitions this season.
On the other hand, the Moroccan Abdel Razzaq Hamdallah, the Al-Ittihad Jeddah striker, continued his exceptional series in the Saudi Super Cup, after scoring a goal against Al-Wahda, strengthening his position as the tournament’s all-time top scorer with six goals, knowing that he is seeking to win the title for the fourth time, after having been crowned three times (twice). With Victory, and once with Al-Ittihad.
Hamdallah scored at least a goal in each of the five matches he played in the Super Cup, as he never missed scoring in the local championship, after he scored a goal with Al-Nasr against Al-Taawoun in 2019, and another goal against Al-Hilal in 2020, while he played two matches in the edition. The past in the Al-Ittihad shirt, where he scored a goal in the semi-final against Al-Nasr, and a brace against Al-Fayhaa in the final round.
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