'We're a team of champions, we never give up' - Al Ittihad to build on King's Cup joy

News 8h 26m Ago

A momentous victory in the country’s most coveted cup could have major implications in the race for the Roshn Saudi League title.

At least, that was the immediate reaction from Tuesday’s victors, Al Ittihad. Reigning champions of the two lead competitions in Saudi football, the RSL holders emerged from their King’s Cup last-16 clash at Al Nassr with a potentially season-shaping win.

A 2-1 triumph was sealed by two of the protagonists from their all-conquering 2024-25, captain Karim Benzema first giving Al Ittihad the lead on a white-hot Riyadh night. Houssem Aouar then restored the visitors’ advantage after Angelo had earlier drawn the hosts level.

Making the victory even more impressive, Al Ittihad had to play almost the entire second half with 10 men following Ahmed Al Julaydan's straight red card for a dangerously high challenge.

Al Ittihad, struggling of late in the RSL, had gone to the current table-toppers, halted their 100 percent start to the season, and departed with a place in the King’s Cup quarter-finals.

Maybe even with a result, and a performance, to ignite their campaign.

“We are very happy for the team, happy for the fans of course, happy for everybody, because we work a lot,” Aouar said afterwards. “We know that this beginning of the season is not as good as we expect. But it's like this.

“We are a team of champions; we will never give up. It was a very tough game, 10 against 11 I think 50 minutes or more… so you can see the mentality of the team. Now we won and it's good for us.”

Seventh in the RSL following a run of two defeats and a draw in their past three matches, the success at title rivals Al Nassr feels like a launchpad for Al Ittihad.

For Sergio Conceicao, also. Appointed earlier this month, the former FC Porto and AC Milan manager is, understandably, still getting to grips with his new team.

But, after a loss in the Saudi Clasico a mere four days before their King’s Cup progress, Al Ittihad rebounded like champions do. Focus now switches back to defending their RSL crown, beginning with a testing trip to the team one spot above them, Al Khaleej, on Saturday.

“It's a part of the process,” Aouar said. “Everything is new, so we have to follow the process, trust the process. The trust is the first thing, because with this we can achieve a lot of big things for this club - because, this club and the fans, they deserve it.

“So now we have to recover. We focus on the league now, and I hope we are going to do big things this season.”

His captain, equally as influential on Tuesday, concurs.

“It was a big game against a very good team,” Benzema said. “It was not easy to win here because Al Nassr do great today but, from the first minute, we show we want to win this game.

“We did exactly what the coach said before, and we are happy because we showed it’s still here.”

Asked what had transpired between the Clasico defeat and the Al Nassr win, Benzema replied: “No, it's nothing different. We try against Al Hilal, we didn't win the game, but we have a new coach.

“We work a lot. So I said, step-by-step, we will be great in the end.”

On the losing side on Tuesday, Al Nassr forward Sadio Mane conceded the result was fair. However, the Senegal international, an integral component in Al Nassr’s incredible start to the season - before this, they had won 10 from 10 matches - is certainly not panicking.

“It's part of football; it can happen,” Mane said. “It's our first loss, but the season is far from the end. So, we are going to keep going. We're going to stick together to do everything possible to win something.”